


Unforgiving

by Spyridon



Series: 'Code 1' Series [1]
Category: Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Complete, Crossover, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-25
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2017-11-28 13:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/675134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spyridon/pseuds/Spyridon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their father had taught them family was important but what happens if blood wasn't enough? As the gusts blew from the rotors, Mia recognized the choices; her only brother who had placed them into this mess or the man she loved, the man who was an undercover officer? When making your choices in life, do not neglect to live your own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Escape Velocity

**Author's Note:**

> I guess one of my constants for this fandom is that Jesse survives. Huh. If everything goes right and the Muses agree, this will be the first part of a series that will be crossover over with the 2003 film "S.W.A.T." As such, in this universe, Chris Sanchez does not exist at all. Also, there will be no action sequences. This story just will deal with aftermath of the assignment and the lead up to the second story. Here's to fingers crossed.

* * *

_What have you done?_  
Is this what you wanted?  
What have you become?  
Your soul's not forsaken  
You're walking alone  
From heaven into hell  
Now you know  
Your way in this madness  
Your powers have gone  
Your chains have been broken  
You've suffered so long  
You will never change.

_Angels have faith_  
I don't want to be a part of his sin  
I don't want to get lost in his world  
I'm not playing this game

**Within Temptation** ,  
" _A Demon's Fate_ " from ' _The Unforgiving_ ' Album

* * *

Mia looked up to see Leon pull the Honda over to the side of the road, Dom getting out while Leon killed the engine. Dom looked over at them before heading to the back, leaning into the window to quietly talk with Letty who looked to be injured from the way she was slumped against the door. Her brother straightened and began to head over to them. "Watch her!" He called out to Leon.

"Yeah, I got it!" Leon slid around the front of the car, gazing toward them.

Mia turned back to watch as Brian began to undo Vince's belt, removing it without trying to move the injured man even more. He quickly wrapped it around Vince's upper arm and cinching it tight in an effort to stop the bleeding. "Come on, Vince. Hang in there. Come on!" Brian ordered as Vince's head lolled around. Dom fell to his knees, taking in the massive amount of blood covering Vince as well as his heavy breathing. Brian looked up at Dom, his face solemn. "If we don't get him to an ambulance in ten minutes, he's dead."

Dom stared at him, not really comprehending what Brian was telling him. Then he looked down once more at Vince as his friend began to cough. Brian pulled on the belt tighter, grabbing Mia's hand and putting it on the belt. "Hold this. Hold the pressure."

"I got it."

"Hold it just like that. Don't let go. Hold his arm up." Brian ordered Mia as he reached into the left pocket of his jeans to pull out his cell phone.

She noticed Vince was beginning to close his eyes for a longer period of time, his head tilting to the side. "Vince!"

Brian pressed 9 on the keypad, knowing that it connected directly to the LA dispatcher center. The phone was immediately picked up, a male voice sounding through the speakers. Hearing the dispatcher begin the long speech, Brian interrupted him, knowing what he was going to say next would probably get him killed by the man kneeling next to him. "Yeah, yeah, this is Officer Brian O'Conner."

Dom's head came up sharply, his dark eyes boring into Brian's blue ones, his face shifting to incomprehension. It quickly turned into a look of betrayal than pure fury as Dom's hands fisted. Brian stared back unflinchingly even as his heart began to pound, images of what Dom did to Linder drifting before his eyes. "I'm off-duty LAPD. I need a life flight roll out right away. My 20 is, uh, highway 86 mile marker 147."

Brian shifted the cellphone, using his shoulder to keep it at his ear as he looked Vince over begin relying information to the dispatcher. "I got one trauma victim, about 24 years of age, 6 foot, maybe 200 pounds. He's got real deep lacerations to his right arm with arterial bleeding." He was aware of Dom looking at Mia who shook her head.

"And he's got a, uh, uh, shotgun wounds close range to his left leg. Yeah, yeah, he's going into shock!" Brian cursed as the cell phone dropped to the ground. He quickly picked it with his right hand as his left one snaked out to Vince's neck as the latter began to slip into unconsciousness.

"Vince!" Mia began to slap Vince on the face as Dom tried to lift the shirt up from where part of it was tucked into his friend's belt. The damage to Vince's side was severe.

"Shit, shit." Brian felt the pulse under his fingers began to flutter before it ceased along the heavy breathing sounds. Taking the buckle of the belt, Brian placed it at Vince's mouth and nose, hoping to god, the man was breathing. There was no mist formation. "His heart stopped. Mia, I need you to put his head on the ground. Here, take this." Brian handed her the phone as he began to go through the check list for doing CPR, undoing the harness and ripping his shirt open.

"Miss, where is Officer O'Conner?" The dispatcher asked.

"He's starting to get the man ready for CPR." Mia answered, moving to get out of Brian's way.

Brian checked Vince's throat as a precaution, making sure his head was tilted back, opening the airway before he put his mouth over Vince's and gave two breaths. Straightening, Brian quickly placed his right hand right along the center of Vince's breast bone and placed his left hand on top of his right, lacing the fingers together. He aligned his shoulders right above where his hands were, locking his arms in a straight line. Praying to the car gods, Brian pressed down about two inches before letting up, making sure he kept his hands positioned correctly. As he kept time in his head, Brian counted off fifteen compressions before giving Vince another two breathes.

As he did the next cycle, Brian asked Mia where the helicopter was. "The dispatcher says they're about a minute out." Nodding, Brian went back to focusing on Vince. His arms began to burn, his muscles trembling with the repeated cycles. The tension in his arms from controlling the exact movements of his limbs was beginning to take their toll.

All the while, Dom was staring at him with hatred in his eyes.

After what seemed like an eternity, they heard the approach of the helicopter. Dust kicked up, Mia moving to protect Vince from the miniature dust storm. Through it all, Brian kept up the CPR, counting each compression off in his head, even as the EMTs began heading in their direction.

As they dropped to their knees to begin work on Vince, Brian stopped the CPR, letting one of them check Vince over and informed them of Vince's injuries. The EMTs confirmed that Vince's heart had started again but was slow and unsteady. An oxygen mask was placed over his mouth and nose to make sure he was getting the oxygen he needed to prevent brain damage. Within a couple of minutes, they had stemmed the flood of blood even more, placing the injured man on the stretcher they had brought after making sure they could move him. Mia blinked and they were hoisting Vince, making their way to the waiting chopper whose blades were still rotating rapidly, swiping angrily at the air. Over the din, she could hear Brian speaking with them in rushed voices, confirming the name of the hospital they were going to rush him to.

Movement of the air next to her had Mia turning her head to see Dom striding with purpose to the waiting Leon and injured Letty. She continued to look at Dom's retreating back before swinging her head to see Brian hitting the window of the chopper with a bloody hand and turning away to face her. She could see his blue eyes flick toward Dom before focusing solely on her face.

This was the man that her brother, her family had taken in with open arms. When she had first laid eyes on him, something inside of her and had caught notice, her body thrumming when he was near. Ever since she had noticed boys, that had never happened to her and eventually she came that such things were naïve little illusions that were only real in novels. As the weeks crept on by, her interested continued to peak. What type of man would order the same thing, day after day, especially if the taste was subpar? The fight in front of the grocery store seemed to have precipitated Brian's fall into their solar system. Brian had worked himself into their little family and her heart. The night they had first made love something she had cherished. It had felt like she had finally found the man that she was going to spend her life with.

Then his revelation at Race Wars and her dreams had collapsed into ash.

They had allowed him into their lives, sharing information that they would not have shared with strangers. He had listened to it all, waiting for the moment to strike and bring them all in for the heists. He was the cop; the snake that she had feared would surround them all within his coils, tightening until the prey was defenseless. He was the man that she feared would drag Dom away in chains and throw away the key after locking him up in one of the darkest, grimiest cells at Lompoc.

Yet, Brian had blown his cover to save Vince, the man that had pegged him as a cop from the beginning, who had scorned him every second and who had been willing to blow his head off at the earliest chance. Brian had risked his life by jumping on to the moving truck, something that few people, even officers, would attempt to save someone. They would rather watch and wait for something to happen before attempting anything. Vince was now on his way to the hospital in the helicopter that Brian had called in for him.

Mia could hear Dom calling her name, demanding she get to the car. Her head turned back. There he was standing at the passenger side, Leon already in the driver's seat, engine turning over. Dom was pointing at the ground, his voice rising again to get her moving. Treating her like a dog.

He was her older brother, the only family she had left after the death of their father. He had been the one to make sure that she stayed in college, working on her Nursing degree while he was in prison. When she was younger, he was her protector, the one that calmed her fears in the middle of the night. Back then, Dom was the brother who could do no wrong. Then, the accident, the incident with Linder, and the trial following had shattered that belief.

Dom was the one to plan the hijackings, easing the concerns of the other members of their small, tight-knit family. Every time she had asked him to stop, he had done one of three things; dismiss her concerns as if she was a little girl who did not understand the big world, told her that it was not her decision, or said it would be the last one. Now, everything had caught up with them, the cops were no doubt circling like sharks, waiting for the drop of blood that would have them all in a feeding frenzy.

All because Dom had thought himself invincible, untouchable by the cops who wanted to bring him in.

Now Vince was possibly dying on the way to the hospital, Jesse was panicking somewhere in LA county with Tran searching for him, Letty was injured in the back of the remaining Civic, and Dom was now wanted as the primary suspect along with the rest of the crew and Leon had been dragged into all of this.

Mia turned to face Brian. He stood still even as the rotor of the helicopter spun faster, the med-evac lifting into the air, his blue eyes focused intently on her. In the blue depths, she could see the want, the hope that Mia would chose him but the belief that she would choose family first. Brian knew how important family was to all of them.

Not that it meant much to Dom these past few weeks.

In her heart, Mia had a feeling that Dom would leave once he found Jesse, taking the rest of their family with him and leaving her behind to clean up their mess as best as she could. He said it was to protect her, to save her from the life they were living. They seemed to forget that she lived the life as well, going to the races with them. Her own car was supped up with the NOS tanks.

Brian saw her as an equal, smiling when she took the wheel. He was surprised, yes, but he never made it seem that she shouldn't be doing it. Driving was just part of her heritage as much as being an Italian or Puerto Rican was in her blood.

The wind blew at her hair, the gusts also playing with Brian's.

When making your own choices, do not forget to live your own life, her mother had once said.

Could she live with the decisions her brother was making?

And in that moment, she chose.

Mia's dark eyes caught Dom's across the distance, small tears trailing down her cheeks as she took a step back. Even with the expanse of desert between them, Mia saw shock cover his face, quickly followed by betrayal, sadness, anger, and finally the grim look of determination.

Turning around, Mia could hear the Civic grab at the loose dirt before its tires screeched as it caught the pavement. The whole time, her eyes were on Brian who was running toward her. She threw herself into his arms, burying her face into the curve of his neck, body shaking in silent sobs. She knew from this moment on, everything she ever knew was going to change and she didn't know if it was going to be for the better.

"God, I'm sorry for everything." Brian whispered in her ear, the regret choking his voice. He let her cry for a minute before drawing back, his hands going to her face, his thumbs wiping the tears away, his blue eyes grim. "It's not over yet, Mia. We still have to find Jesse before Tran does. Then, we're going to have to deal with LAPD and the FBI."

Mia nodded, allowing Brian to lead her back to the Supra. She opened the door and slid into the passenger seat, staring at her blood covering her hands. She had always thought that it would Dom's blood on her hands from all the stunts he pulled over the past few years. She had never suspected that it would be Vince's, the man that had stood by her along with the others while Dom was in prison. The engine came to life, Brian wiping his hand on his shirt before gripping the shift stick. The orange car swiftly turned around, heading back into the city limits.

"Do you know where Jesse might be? Any friends, family members, and places he tends to visit when stressed?"

Wiping away the remaining tears, Mia shook her head as she looked out at the passing landscape. "No, we're the only family he's got besides his dad." Emptiness had taken up residence in her heart where Dom used to be. "He has nowhere else to go."

Brian's fingers slipped into her hand, Vince's blood congealing on his skin. "It's going to be okay, Mia." He gave a firm squeeze before his hand went back to the gearshift. "Do you know Jesse's plates? I can get him picked up by the PD and place him into protective custody."

"No, Tran would know something was up. You guys would have to impound the car and Tran would find that suspicious, especially after Race Wars."

"Tran might be looking for Jesse to get back at Dom. Everyone knows how Dom is protective of everyone in your family, especially since Jesse is the kid brother. And it would be better if we had him safe somewhere than us burying him six feet under in a pine box." Brian said harshly, hand tightening on the steering wheel. He picked up his cell phone, waiting for Mia.

She knew Brian was right. Tran did not take disrespect well. She had seen that firsthand when Dom had seduced Tran's younger sister. The shit that had followed had not been pretty. She had lost Dom to this mess and Vince may be dying somewhere in the sky above them. She wasn't going to lose another. Mia quickly recited Jesse's license by heart.

Brian dialed a number, impatiently waiting for someone to pick up the phone. "This is O'Conner . . . I need to put an APB out for one Jesse Lindberg . . . Yeah, the whiz kid of Toretto's crew . . . no, not for the heists but rather for protective custody . . . Johnny Tran is looking to kill him . . . . I'll explain later . . . If he kills Jesse, you might have a turf war on your hands . . . . If he's found, you need to leave the car there, unlocked and with the keys under the passenger seat . . . . We'll pick it up since Tran already thinks Toretto was the one to narc him out . . . . Will do." Brian flipped the cell close.

"We'll pick up the car?" Mia asked, turning to face Brian.

"I'll take the Jetta and you'll take the Supra back to the house and wait there. You can't get any more involved in this since the higher ups think you don't know what's going on."

"Tran will think it's weird that you'll give him the Jetta without Dom being there."

"It's not like Dom has the time to hand over the car." Brian could feel the bile rising in his throat. "Why does everything have to be so complicated? It was supposed to be an easy operation."

Before Mia could reply, Brian's phone rang. "O'Conner." Mia turned away still disgusted that Brian wasn't a Spilner but rather an O'Conner. "You found him already? That was fast. Where? Is the car there? Don't ask him about the heists . . . . He doesn't know about me . . . . We'll be there soon." Brian ended the call. "They have Jesse. He seems fine except for the fact that he's panicking."

"Shit." Mia rubbed her temples. "He's going to freak out. He's going to think that they found out about the heists and he might let something slip."

"Tanner won't risk blowing my cover." Seeing the look Mia gave him, Brian continued. "He doesn't know that Dom knows about me now. When I called the med-evac in, it was an unknown victim who was found shot on the side of the highway. It'll take a while before they notice something."

Brian changed gears as he hit Sunset Blvd. "Mia, you have to talk to Jesse before the cops can interrogate him."

"I thought you said that he was in protective custody." Mia accused, turning around in her seat to look at him.

"He is but, Mia, you have to believe me, the FBI and my bosses want Dom bad. I know how they'll work this. Officially, Jesse is in protective custody but that doesn't mean they won't try to get Jesse to talk, to admit he participated in on the heists, to let something slip. Talk to him and tell him that the LAPD doesn't know where his personal Honda is and to not say anything at all." Brian looked at Mia who turned her head away. "You have to tell him that he needs to milk his ADD for all its worth. They might believe that Dom took advantage of Jesse's brilliance and disability but kept him from participating in the heists. Added in that he just lost his car to Tran, they might believe that he doesn't have the skills to help pulls the heists off."

"You mean admit something that's illegal but making it look like that Jesse was being taking advantage of?"

"It's the only way from keeping Jesse from going to jail. If he admits that he participated, he'll be doing some hard time in prison and you know that he won't make it there, not without someone watching over him. If something happens to him inside, you know there's a chance that he'll never get over it."

"He's not weak." Mia argued.

"Tell me that I'm wrong then that Dom is still the same person that he was before he went to prison and all that shit that happened with your dad." Mia went quiet. "Vince can handle himself. I know you want to stop him from going to prison too but sooner or later, they're going to put two and two together and get four."

"What are you saying, Brian?" Mia asked, not liking what she was hearing from him.

Brian sighed, knowing what he was going to stay next was going to set Mia off. "I know how much Vince means to you but we are going to have to play the system. This means that we need to offer Vince up to take the fall-"

"You want to do WHAT? Maybe, Vince was right! You ARE a fucking jerk!"

"Then give me any other plan that will work because right now I have nothing else. We can save Jesse and maybe Leon too. Letty's fingerprints will be all over the Honda but she's probably out of their jurisdiction by now, probably even crossing the border into Baja. Vince can plead guilty without giving the others away. He won't be able to take a plea bargain since I know he won't give up Dom to save his own skin so they won't be as lenient. I can work something out the DA's office." Brian noticed they were nearing Echo Park. "Jesse's car should be around here."

"I can't do that to Vince."

"Mia, if he doesn't play, they'll pin down everything on him and he'll be stuck in there for far longer than Dom ever was." Brian bit his lip, thinking hard. "It all comes down to Vince and what he decides to do."

"Once he finds out about you, Brian, I don't think he's going to want to play your game."

"Maybe not mine." Brian looked at her, his blue gaze intense. "After this, you're going to have to let all that emotion you're bottling up loose and act out the betrayed girlfriend. Vince will follow you since you didn't know about me being undercover."

"What about after everything blows over? Will we be able to stay together?" She hadn't looked past today when she had chosen Brian over her own brother. Mia did not think that the LAPD would allow them to be together since she was the sister of an ex-convict who was a suspect in a major case and Brian was the undercover they had sent in.

"I don't know but I'm willing to try my hardest." Brian replied softly, locking eyes with her. "I'm not going to let this get between us so easily."

Mia nodded before seeing a familiar car parked on the side of the street. "There's Jesse's car." Brian pulled the Supra around and up behind the Jetta. He left the keys in the ignition, Mia getting out the Supra to get into the driver's seat. He opened the door to Jesse's car, looking it over quickly to make sure it hadn't been tampered with while no one was around. He bent over and retrieved the keys from where they had been left under the passenger seat. Once the car was started, Brian waved for Mia to take the lead back to the Fort.

As they drove, the unsettled feeling that had taken up residence in Brian's stomach grew as the distance shortened. Something was going to happen and Brian knew that there was nothing he could do to stop the train from crashing.

* * *

Mia pulled the Supra to the curb in front of her house, cutting the engine off. In the rearview mirror, she could see Brian pull up behind her in Jesse's Jetta. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Dom was walking from behind the house, the Mossberg she had gotten two months after her brother's incarceration in his hand.

Opening the driver's side door, she started to yell at him. "Stop it, Dom! It's over!" From behind her, Brian got out of the Jetta.

Dom ignored her, cocking the shotgun ominously as he stared at Brian. "Where the fuck is Jesse, cop?"

"Somewhere he'll be safe from Tran and his goons." Brian's voice was calm, something that no doubt would piss Dom off even more.

"Fucking cop! You took him in so you can charge him for the heists!"

"He didn't bring him for tha-" Mia started to say but she was prevent from saying anymore by Dom who turned on her.

"You have nothing to say that I want to hear." Dom yelled at her, his eyes burning into hers. "You fucking chose him over us, your family. You were taught that family was important and you turned on that for the man that was using you to get to us. He used you and you don't care!"

Mia scoffed even as the jab struck her in her heart, tears coursing down her face. "What do you know, Dom? Like Dad would have been proud of the man you've become? Stealing merchandise and selling it on the streets, pulling in the rest of the family, using their loyalty to blind them into doing your bidding. Do you think that's the man that Dad wanted you to become? Where's everybody now, Dom, huh?" Mia asked quietly, lifting her chin. "Jesse was on Tran's hit list. Vince is injured, possibly dead. Letty's also injured. Leon might be losing the little brother he's protected for how long? And us? We have cops breathing down our backs, all because we trusted you to watch over us. I guess that just shows how much stupid we were since we followed you without questioning your decisions."

Dom's fingers tightened around the shotgun, putting Brian on edge. He walked up to stand next to Mia. "Dom, you know the cops will be chasing you. They want you bad."

"Oh, I'm sure you know all about that, wouldn't you, _Spilner_?" Dom's eyes flicked from Mia to Brian. "I wonder if you were that good in bed that my sister chose you."

"I can't believe you think of your own sister to say that Dom." Brian snarled, the guilt over the whole situation igniting the anger within him at seeing Dom scorn his flesh and blood. "She's still trying to help you and you throw it back in her face."

Dom scoffed. "Shut the fuck up, cocksucker. You have no say in what I say to her."

Brian lifted his chin, refusing to back down from Dom. "I think I do. I love her."

Dom cracked, his explosive temper getting the best of him. "Don't fucking act like you care shit about her when you're a fucking lying piece of shit!" He roared as he threw himself at Brian who replied in kind, angling himself to duck beneath Dom's flying fists.

They met in mid-air. To Mia, it was obvious that Brian had reigned in his fighting skills when fighting Vince as the officer ducked under Dom's leading punch and drove his own fist into Dom's ribs. He was throwing everything he knew at Dom in order to survive the beating that her brother wanted to give him. Dom grunted as he brought himself up short, intending to grab Brian in a chokehold. Except that Brian had moved out of Dom's reach. Brian weaved in but shifted his weight to his back foot as Dom tried to grab him again. Brian's second punch landed squarely on Dom's jaw, sending him staggering back a few feet. Dom growled, before rushing Brian. A long arm caught Brian around the waist, dragging him to the floor. The next second, 225 pounds of fury-driven muscles were on top of him.

Brian's head rocked back as Dom's fist caught him under the jaw, pain radiating to the back of his skull. The next blow caught Brian on the nose, the cartilage breaking under the force and letting blood flow from the damaged blood vessels. The red liquid smeared all over Brian's face, causing Mia to scream as Linder's face superimposed itself over that of her boyfriend's.

"Dom, stop it! You might kill him! Stop it! Dom! You're going to kill him!"

The third blow was blocked by Brian's bladed hand, the blow glancing off his wrist. Brian wormed his arm around Dom's, preventing the bigger man from using it. Dom shifted his weight to allow him to use the other but before Dom could settle his weight higher on Brian's chest, the officer bucked his hips, throwing Dom off-balance.

The officer twisted onto his left side, arching his back to get more room under the hulk of Dom's body, freeing his right side as Dom righted himself.

Gritting his teeth, Dom wrapped a thick arm around Brian's throat in an attempt to choke him but Brian was able to get an arm into the hold, keeping his airway open. Brian strained to get his feet under him, his face going red with exertion.

"L-listen to your sister, Dom. You don't want to add more shit to your rap sheet." Brian gasped, trying to reason with the furious man.

"I wonder if you told that to Jesse when you him to the police station, pig." Dom spat, bloodied spittle spraying over Brian's face.

Brian got his feet under him but Dom beat him to the punch as the bigger man pulled himself upright, hauling Brian's body with him. The stockier man bodily threw the officer across the front yard. Brian landed into the grass, rolling to his feet but before the men could throw themselves back into their fight, Mia got between them.

"Stop this, Dom, before someone calls the cops!" She yelled, trying to get her older bother to see reason.

Dom pointed a finger at the blonde who was panting heavily, wiping his bloody mouth with the back of his hand. "He's a cop, Mia! He's the COP that was sent to bring me in and you're siding with him."

"And whose fault is that?" Mia cried out in anger, tears welling up in her eyes. "I warned you how many times not to do it. You NEVER listened to me. And look where it's gotten us, Dom. The team trusted you and they followed you blindly into this bullshit."

Pain crossed Dom's face at the accusations Mia was throwing at him. "I can't believe you're saying that to me. I'm your brother!"

"Then act like it!" Mia screamed back. "Ever since Dad died, you've been making all the decisions and they're the wrong ones! You destroyed your life and Linder's six years ago. Then, instead of getting your shit together, you sulk and race. The only thing you're doing is running away from life, Dom. The team may be willing to let you do that shit but I'm sick and tired of it."

"Then I don't know you anymore."

"No, Dom. I grew up. I grew up waiting for you to leave Lompoc and I've been waiting for you to grow up while you raced. During those ten seconds you race, you're free but what about the rest of the time, Dom? What about the other hundred thousand seconds, huh?" Mia scoffed, tears still flowing down her face. "I never realized it until now but you're a coward. That's all you are."

Dom took a step forward, face thunderous. "You're calling me a fucking coward? After all the time I tried to keep our family afloat? Those races were to bring in money for us, to feed everyone." Another step was taken. "You're not my sister and certainly not part of this family. You're nothing but a traitorous bitch!" He roared.

"She's right, Dom." Brian interrupted, forcing Dom's attention back to him. Mia turned around to see Brian standing, arms held loosely by his side, his face dripping with blood. A bruise was already beginning to form around his eye. "It's over, Dom. Mia's right. The police will put the clues together and know that you were the ones hijacking the trucks." The cop said quietly. "It would be too much of a coincidence of finding Vince on the side of the highway with a gunshot in his side, especially considering the harness he was wearing."

As Brian's words rolled over them, Brian and Dom's attention were drawn to the end of the street where two motorcycles were roaring up the street. Brian's heart leapt into his throat as the guns came up. He had been shown how much damage could be wrought by a semiautomatic gun when he was the Academy, knew that the rate of bullets that were released per minute. The muzzles flashed with every single bullet. Brian reached out, his long arms wrapping around Mia and drawing her back behind him as he twisted his body around to protect her.

Mia screamed as Brian dragged her to the ground, fearing for her life and that of her brother and boyfriend. She hit the ground hard, feeling Brian's weight fall on top of her, a grunt of pain sounding right overhead. She could hear the pinging sounds of the bullets as they slammed into the concrete, embedding themselves into the yard, and tearing into the house.

* * *


	2. Inertia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definition from the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: A property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force in an equal but opposite reaction.

* * *

As the motorcycles came up the street, Dom felt his protective instincts kick in. He dove to where he had dropped the Mossberg, knowing that he would need it. He rolled over the front ledge of the walk way, dropping to the sidewalk as the hail of metal missed him by inches. Getting to his feet, Dom looked up to see the two men turned back to their bikes, picking up speed as they left the scene.

Then he heard Mia scream, fear leeching into her voice.

Dom turned around to see Mia kneeling over Brian's prone body as it lay on the path to the front door. Her hands were trying to stem the flow of blood pouring from the wound in Brian's midriff. His breathing hitched as his mind shot back to the scene earlier in the day except instead of the blonde curls, he saw Vince's short, dark strands. Dom could smell the blood, tasting it in his suddenly dry mouth.

"Oh god, Brian!" Mia sobbed, wiping at her face to get rid of the tears. One of Mia's hands was splayed on his chest; rocking him a bit to wake him up but there was no response. "Brian, please wake up. You can't leave me like this." The shaking came a little harder as Mia's cries increased in volume.

Anger rose in Dom like an avenging god as he saw the pain on Mia's face. The words he had said to her just seconds ago didn't register in his mind, only that his sister was in pain and it was all Tran's fault. This time, Tran has fucked with him and his family one too many. He had tried to fuck him over twice before with Letty and Jesse and Dom had allowed him to walk away.

This time, there was going to be no warning.

This time, Tran was going to pay.

Dom jumped to his feet and ran to the Charger, thanking the fates that Mia had not blocked the driveway with Brian's Supra. The engine roared to life and the car peeled out of the driveway, swinging north on the street.

As the houses whizzed by, Dom checked the chamber of the shotgun, noticing that he had only five shots to work with. In his mind, Dom mapped out where Tran and his cousin possibly be heading and began plotting an alternate route. No doubt, they would try to head back to their turf, where Dom's influences were little. There was also the risk of one of Spilner's colleagues catching up with him, Dom thought darkly.

He sped through the streets, dodging cars and walking pedestrians, intent on ending the threat from Tran and his tag along cousin. A flash of red and Dom saw the two motorcyclists whizzing past. Blood pounding along with the whistling of the blower, Dom brought the Charger on their asses, forcing them to go north on Glendale Boulevard, away from their home. Almost immediately, both of them turned and shot at him, bullets spewing through the air. With skill, Dom dodged the hail without losing ground. Around them, other cars and bikes swerved to get out of their way, braking to a stop right in the middle of the street. Pedestrians screamed and duck out of sight as Tran and Nguyen continued to shoot at Dom.

At the next intersection, Dom saw his chance. As Lance leaned to the right to make the turn, he was forced to bring his foot down to the ground as he was going too fast to swing the bike around. Dom grinned darkly as he drifted the Charger around, the back of the car coming around to smack hard into Lance. The biker was thrown off of his bike to land directly onto the path of an incoming SUV. At that speed, there was no time for the vehicle to swerve.

Dom's view of Lance saw the man's body going under the spinning tires, the SUV bucking up a couple of times before coming to a stop right after. As Dom roared on after Tran, he looked in the mirror to see a crowd gathering around the motionless body of Nguyen.

One down, one more to go.

Angered at the loss of his cousin, Johnny slowed down his motorcycle again, allowing the Charger to catch up. Dom realized his folly when Johnny aimed his Cobray at Dom straight on. Without a single thought, Dom hit the NOS button, feeding the fuel injection with a shot of nitrous oxide. The car burst forward as the bullets erupted from the Cobray. The sound of metal being struck alerted Dom that he hadn't escaped unscathed.

Shooting the NOS too soon had brought Dom ahead of Tran who was now chasing him, his gun held by his side, waiting for another shot. Dom led Tran around Silver Lake, using every tactic and skill he knew to keep ahead of Johnny. He left Glendale Boulevard, heading for Micheltorena Street. If he could get there, being in the front would give him an advantage. He hit Angus Street from Lakewood Avenue North, praying to God that there weren't any kids in the streets. He drifted the Charger around, the body angling around as he hit the bend in Angus. Coming out of the turn, he stomped on the gas again, shifting gears as the Charger picked up speed. Johnny stayed on his tail throughout the bends and curves, unable to get a clear shot of Dom.

Finally, as Dom passed Dahlia Street, he knew that the hilly nature of the street would bring the chase to an end. He slowed down long enough to allow Tran to catch up, knowing he would have to time it perfectly. Hitting the intersection at Effie Street, the Charger went airborne, coming down hard fifteen feet away. Dom spun the Charger around sideways, blocking the street. Looking up, he saw Johnny take the hill a little faster, causing him to stay in the air longer but not long enough to pass the Charger. Unable to stop his descent, Johnny knew he was going to hit the Charger. Tran tried to point the Cobray at Dom but it was futile. The bike landed a second before the crash.

The front wheel of the bike slammed into the side panel, flipping the rider up and over the Charger. Tran hit the pavement hard, his helmet skidding across the black top before his body rolled to a stop thirty feet from the Charger.

Dom turned the Charger around and brought it to a stop next to Tran. He got out of the car, shotgun in his hand. Kneeling next to the man, Dom stared into Johnny's eyes. "You fucked too much with my family, Tran. This time it's going to cost you. You tried to kill Jesse, you almost killed my sister, and now you've injured the man she loves." Dom pointed the shotgun at Tran's chest. With a squeeze of the trigger, the slug left the barrel and slammed into Tran's chest, blood and bits of bone erupting outward.

Dom wiped at his face, face grim. Turning around, he got back into the Charger and sped off.

* * *

Over the sound of her own screams, Mia's mind raced with the knowledge she had learned in class. The liver, the intestines, kidneys, and other organs were located in the abdomen. The kidneys alone had a liter of blood being pumped through the renal arteries and veins which branched from the aorta every minute. If a bullet had severed the renal arteries or the inferior vena cava, there was nothing that she could do. Brian would bleed out within five minutes as she watched. Had one of them been nicked?

A memory struck Mia then.

The phone! Brian had slid his phone back into his jeans after calling his supervisor to put an APB on Jesse's Jetta. Mia's hand left the wound, bloody fingers digging into Brian's front pocket. She drew out the clamshell cellular, thanking Brian for not leaving it in the Jetta look other men did. Flipping it open, Mia quickly called 911.

"Los Angeles County Emergency Services. Operator 2984. What's the nature and location of your emergency?"

Mia pulled herself together, knowing that Brian's life was depending on what she did the next five minutes. "My boyfriend's been shot. We're at 722 East Kensington Road. I need an ambulance quick. He's bleeding out."

She heard the dispatcher repeat her information to the EMS over the sounds of her fingers hitting the keyboard. "The paramedics and police are on their way. Is the shooter still there?"

"They were on motorcycles. They shot up the house. I don't think they're coming back."

"Are you with the victim?"

Where exactly did the fucking dispatcher think she would be? "Yes, I'm right here next to him."

"Is he conscious?"

Mia noticed the dark spot on the side of Brian's head. "No. I think he hit his head when he fell. He hasn't moved."

"Where is the gunshot wound located?"

"Abdomen, slightly to the right. I think he's been shot more than once. I can't tell with all the blood. There's so much." Her voice caught.

"I need you to place your hand firmly on the wound. Try not to move him much in case the bullets are still in him."

"Oh god, I think he's bleeding from the back too." Mia noticed that the puddle was spreading out from underneath Brian. She did as the dispatcher instructed, placing the heel of her palm on the wound and pressing and down firmly. The pain must have woken Brian up as he jerked and began trying to move. "No, Brian. Don't move!"

"Has he regained consciousness?"

"Fuck." Brian gasped as the dispatcher tried to get Mia's attention, his arms flopping around. "This day is getting better and better."

"He's awake." Mia reported to the dispatcher. She shifted the phone so the phone was held in place by her shoulder and head. Using both of her hands, Mia kept Brian from moving any further. "Don't move; you've been shot. The ambulance is on their way."

Suddenly, Brian reached up, his long fingers wrapping around the hem of her shirt and dragging her down to him. The phone tumbled free to the ground with a clatter. In a whisper, Brian wheezed out instructions as his body tried to fade out again. "Get to Jesse. Tell him what I told you. Protect Jesse. Vince can't help. Not yet. Trust me." Brian's eyes locked with hers, determination blazing through the pain. "Promise me." He gasped his back arching.

"I trust you, Brian. I promise I'll protect Jesse. You just have to hold on." Mia heard the dispatcher trying to get her attention and lifted the phone back to her ear. "I'm still here."

"Good. Ask him if there are any other places he's been hurt that you haven't found."

"Dispatcher wants to know if you're hurt anywhere."

"Stomach. Head. Everywhere." Brian answered weakly, giving in to Mia's demands and laid back down. He shivered. "It's cold." His voice drifted off, his words mumblings together in an incoherent mess. His arms jerked now and then.

"He says it's cold." Mia parroted, knowing that was a bad sign. She thanked god when she heard the sirens. "I think I hear the sirens."

"That'd be the police. The ambulance should be right on their tail."

A second later, a black and white took a hard right onto East Kensington, its lights flashing as it sped up the street. It screeched to a stop right in front of the Supra, the two officers getting out. "The police are here." Mia whispered to Brian, knowing the dispatcher could hear her.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" One of the officers asked as he quickly walked up to her, his dark eyes searching the area for any sign of the shooters. More sirens came as the ambulance entered the street.

"I'm fine. Please, just help my boyfriend." Mia told him. She could still feel the warmth of Brian's blood under her hands. The paramedics ran up the pathway, dropping next to her. The officer grabbed her and drew her away despite her protests.

"I'm sorry but you need to let them do their job." The officer calmly told her, leading her to the edge of the street. "Martinez, check around the house to make sure there are no more dangers." His partner nodded as he quickly went to go check that the scene was safe now that the shooters were gone. Behind them, the paramedics took in Brian's wounds. They checked Brian to see if there was any damage to his spine. One paramedic immobilized Brian's neck with a neck brace while the other began to insert an IV into Brian's arm.

"Ma'am, what's your boyfriend's name?" The first officer asked gently, trying to get her attention.

"Brian Earl Spilner. Is he going to be alright," Her eyes flicked to his chest were she could his name tag. "Officer Lopez?"

"The paramedics are working on stabilizing him now. I can't really tell you his chances of survival since I'm not a medical doctor but you can know that he'll get the best of care." The cop removed a pad and a pen from his pocket. "Can you tell me what happened, miss?"

"We had just arrived and my brother Dom was here. Brian and Dom started to argue then they started fighting. I got between them. I was telling Dom that it was over. That's when they came and shot up the house." Mia's voice caught on a sob, hearing the sounds of the gunfire in her ears. "They shot up the house. Bullets were everywhere." She started to shiver, the adrenaline finally wearing off.

"Did you see their faces? Anything that may point to their identity?"

"They had helmets but I know it was Johnny Tran. Their bikes look similar enough."

"Do you know the reason behind the shooting?"

"One of my brother's friends had raced Tran the day before at Race Wars. You can ask anyone there. Dom and Tran fought a bit before the security stepped in." Mia looked up as a SUV pulled up, two men getting out.

One had a balding head, a full beard and mustache, and what looked to be tinted glasses. The other was taller and looked to be a bit younger than the balding man. Lopez obviously recognized the new men on the scene as he balked for a moment before turning to Mia. "Excuse me for a moment, miss." The cop left to intercept the new arrivals.

Ignoring the talking cops, Mia went to where the paramedics were strapping Brian to a gurney. "Where are you taking him?"

"Good Samaritan as it's the closest hospital with a trauma unit." One of the paramedics replied. He nodded at his partner and they jointly pulled the gurney up, its joints locking into place. Mia walked with them, noticing that Brian was still with them if barely. She reached out, grabbing his hand in hers. The fingers were cold and clammy. Mia squeezed them, drawing his attention to her. "I'll wait for you." Giving one last squeeze, she let go to allow the paramedics to load Brian into the waiting ambulance. The doors closed and the sirens that were silent came to life, the ambulance speeding down Kensington, heading for the hospital. Her fingers itched for the keys she had left in the Supra.

"Ms. Toretto?" Mia turned from where she was staring after where the red and white emergency vehicle drove to see the two men from the SUV standing behind her.

"Yes?"

"My name's Sergeant Tanner and this is Sergeant Muse. We're from the LAPD. We need to speak with you regarding the incidents of today."

"I already told the other officer what happened. My boyfriend and I had just arrived then they came ten minutes alter to shoot us."

"I know this must be hard for you with what you've been through but I'm afraid we are going to need a more detailed account of the events leading up to the drive-by shooting." Sergeant Tanner informed Mia quietly in a soft deep voice. "The sooner we get your statement on record, the sooner you can go to the hospital to check on your boyfriend."

The way the sergeant had said the word caught Mia's attention. Did he know about Brian being an undercover officer? She sat down on the ledge of the yard. "What do you want to know?"

"You told Officer Lopez that your brother and your boyfriend were arguing before the shooting? Can you explain?"

"I guess all of these began over what happened yesterday at Race Wars. My brother has a couple of rivals and one of them goes by the name of Johnny Tran. Yesterday, one of our friends, Jesse Lindberg, raced Tran for pink slips. He lost. But instead of stopping and handing the car over, Jesse panicked and left. Tran got pissed and blamed Dom for something that happened at his house which I don't know about."

"What is the nature of the relationship between your brother and Johnny Tran?" Sergeant Muse asked, eyeing her with a look that Mia did not appreciate. His stare made her feel like she was some prize slab of meat.

"They both have street crews. Dom's the best and a while back, had the mistake of sleeping with Tran's sister when she was engaged with someone else. Ever since then, there's always been animosity between the two crews." Mia explained. "Dom and the rest of our family left to go search for Jesse before Tran and his cousin could find him. Brian arrived at the camp site at Race Wars a couple of hours later around midnight and saw that no one was there. I told him what happened and I went with him to go look for Jesse. Around daybreak, Brian called Dom and learned that they were in trouble."

"When he called your brother where were you?"

"I was outside of the car, checking one of Jesse's hideaways that he visits when he wants to be alone. When we got where Dom had said he was, Vince was on a semi and couldn't get off."

"Do you know how Vince was on the semi?" Tanner asked, his eyes staring at her intently. "Was there anything out of the ordinary?" In the street in front of them, another SUV pulled up. The people who got out were wearing CSI jackets, each of them carrying silver cases.

"We passed a flipped car when we got to where the semi was driving and other that had pulled off the road. We only barely noticed Vince as the semi was swerving around. We tried to get the trucker to pull over but he was refusing to do so. Brian got on the semi from the car and helped Vince get back into the Supra before the trucker pushed us off the road. Brian called 911-"

"Did Brian call the dispatcher in front of you?" A CSI technician walked up to them, holding a silver case and a professional Nikon camera around his neck. Sergeant Tanner held up a hand, the technician nodding. He turned around and began working the blood stain on the pathway. One of the other technicians began prowling the yard, looking for the bullets embedded in the dirt.

Mia shook her head at Muse's question. "No, he had me check the Supra to see if there was anything that could help stop the bleeding. When I came back, he was describing Vince's wounds to them while he pulled Vince's belt from his jeans and wrapped it around his arm. That's when Dom came in Leon's car and was shocked to see Vince in such a state. After the helicopter picked up Vince, I got in the car with Brian and we split up to find Jesse as time was running out. We were checking another one of Jesse's hideaways when Brian called a friend to look for Jesse who was able to find him pretty damn quick. No, I wasn't in the car." Mia anticipated Muse's question this time, glaring at him. "We went to where Brian's friend had left Jesse's Jetta and picked it up. We came here and suddenly Dom started fighting with Brian, calling him a cop and such."

Mia laughed, shaking her head. "I don't know what Dom was thinking but Brian got pissed and began fighting with him. They broke apart and I stepped in to keep them from ripping each other. That's when Tran and his goon came. I think someone tipped them off that they had seen Jesse's Jetta at our house. I mean, they suddenly came up the street so suddenly. That's when they shoot up the house and Brian got hit trying to protect me." Mia started crying again, everything hitting her at once.

Tanner reached into his pocket and drew out a handkerchief that he kept in his pockets the whole time. "Here you go. I'm sorry all of this happened."

"It was just a stupid car."

"Crazy people do crazy things." Tanner motioned for the CSI technician that was waiting a few feet away. "This gentleman will need photos of you and your clothing. After that, if you wish to go to the hospital, I'll have one the uniforms escort you there."

"Thank you, Sergeant."

Mia got up and walked over to the CSI who had her hold out her arms and look directly at the camera. She didn't count the numerous photos the CSI took but Mia was sure that the multiple shots would capture all the blood stains on her. The technician then took a swab and collected several blood samples from the splotches on her skin as well as a DNA sample from her mouth. Next, her fingerprints were taken. After the CSI had everything he needed, he walked with her into her house, staying outside of her bedroom after handing her a large brown paper bag.

She changed, making sure that the clothing she wore the whole night went into the evidence bag the CSI had handed to her without touching anything else. The flats went to the bottom, followed by the jeans, underclothing, with the bloodied t-shirt on top. She slipped on sweatpants and shirt and handed the evidence bag to the CSI who thanked her and left. Mia grabbed another set of clothing and slipped into the shower.

Once there, everything hit her, rocking her to her core. Mia slipped to the floor, her hands covering her face as her tears mixed with the red water swirling down the drain.

* * *

One hour later saw Mia waiting in the emergency room, waiting for the nurses to finish settling Brian into the ICU. She had gone to Good Samaritan with the police escort Tanner had assigned to her. According to the RN on duty, Brian had been swiftly taken to the trauma unit where they had performed the surgery to close the bullet holes in his intestines and stomach.

One of the bullets had entered from the right side, striking the large intestines and the stomach before exiting from the left side. The second bullet was about four inches lower than the first and had gone through from the front side at an angle, tearing into his small intestines, exiting out his lower left back. A third bullet had gone through his right oblique muscles without hitting anything else. Due to the fact that the bullets had ruptured the stomach and intestines, Brian's peritoneal cavity had been flooded with the acids, bacteria, and other fluids that were contained in those organs. As such, the medical staff's primary concern was the threat of septicemia and blood clots but other than that, Brian was expected to fully recover within two months.

From the cop with her, Mia learned that Vince was being held at another hospital near where he had been shot on the highway. He too was still in surgery but it was drawing to a close. The only concern for the doctors over there was that they were wary of the damage done to his arm. They were hoping that enough blood flow had been restored to his fingers to stop gangrene from setting in. There was a chance of nerve damage to the levels of decreased oxygen in the limb so they wouldn't know the extent of damage done until Vince entered physical therapy.

She had then mentioned that she had to find Brian's friend to see Jesse who no doubt was going to wonder what was happening. It was then that the officer had told her that Detective Tanner had informed him that he was on his way to Good Samaritan with some information that Mia would want to hear.

Taking a seat in the surgery waiting room, Mia held her purse tightly in her hand, mindful of the looks she was getting from other people present as the officer was standing beside her. It was twenty minutes later when Detective Tanner walked through the double doors with another man with dark skin that Mia had yet to meet.

Something about the way the second man carried himself or maybe it was the bulge of a concealed weapon under his jacket that had Mia on edge. This wasn't a normal LAPD detective. She was proven right when Tanner introduced them.

"Ms. Toretto, this is Special Agent Darrell Bilkins from the FBI."

"What does the FBI have to do with what happened at my house?" Mia asked, straightening her back, meeting his stare straight on. She refused to be intimidated by the man before her.

"I'm afraid it has to do with everything that happened today."

Bilkins took the seat across from Mia, his dark eyes solemn. "You see, Ms. Toretto, I have been investigating a string of truck hijackings in the LA county over the past few months. Once we figured that the hijackers were local street racers, we brought the LAPD into it as they were more familiar with who was part of the street racing scene."

"Why would you be telling me this unless you think my brother did this?"

The FBI agent didn't deny it. "Your brother is the best, known as the King on the streets but we did not have any concrete proof that him and the rest of the family was behind it. There was also a chance that we may have the wrong man as there two other possible crews who had the skills and knowledge to pull the heists off. So we sent in an undercover officer to find any evidence linking him with the heists."

Mia stilled, letting the feelings of betrayal that she had felt when Brian told her who he really was wash over her, fueling the anger bubbling in her. "You sent in an undercover officer. What Dom said to Brian before -?"

"Yes, Brian was the undercover officer we had chosen." Tanner confirmed gently, taking his glasses off and rubbing them an eye cloth he removed from his pocket. "Unfortunately, we did not take into account the threat that the Trans posed until it was too late." The detective placed his glasses back on his nose.

"All this time, he was lying to us, to me? From the moment I first met him?" _At the store_ , Mia added in her mind.

"He was doing his job, following our instructions. Unfortunately, there were," Bilkins leaned back in his chair. "Personal complications that we did not foresee."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Mia narrowed her eyes at the law enforcement officers before her. "What about Jesse? What about the friend that Brian called when I was searching the hideaway? Those weren't friends, were they? They were cops like you."

"You're right. Brian called me at the office to request that we put an APB out on your friend and bring him to the precinct under protective custody. He's still there with a guard. As for Vince, Brian called the dispatcher to have a med-evac for him. That saved his life. Any longer and your friend would have bleed out to death on the valley floor." Tanner's phone rang, the man excusing himself while he walked off a bit to talk to whoever was on the other end.

Bilkins laced his hands together. "We had to remind Officer O'Conner that this was an undercover operation and that personal feelings should not get his way of completing the mission."

"Oh, believe me, he fulfilled them well." She snapped as Tanner ended the conversation and walked to them, his face grave.

"That was Sergeant Muse. It seems that Johnny Tran and his cousin Lance Nguyen have been located." Tanner's phone bounced in his hand as he paused for a moment. "It seems that your brother chased them through the streets of Echo Park up to Silver Lake. Lance is currently in the surgery room at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center with multiple broken bones as well as a punctured lung. As for Tran, he was found dead by officers on Micheltorena, gunshot wound to the chest. They're talking to witnesses at the moment."

"Did you know where your brother went after fleeing your house?" Bilkins asked.

"No. He just left. I was too busy worrying over _Brian_." Mia shook it off. Standing up, she slipped her purse over her shoulder. Bilkins stood up as well. "I need to see Jesse. I can't deal with this right now. Do you know where he is?"

"If you would like, we can-"

Mia held up a hand. "No. I think I've seen enough officers for today. He didn't have anything to do whatever my brother did. If you're not going to hold him in connection to the heists, you can't hold him as the threat that Tran posed to Jesse is now gone since he's dead."

Tanner nodded reluctantly, exchanging glances with Bilkins. "He's being held at the Rampart Community Police Station. I'll call the officer there and have him released into your custody. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to call us."

Mia took the offered business cards. "Thank you for the information. Excuse me, detective, agent Bilkins."

"Ms. Toretto." Mia turned around to face Tanner. "I know you may not want to hear from us but I will call you once we learn of Brian's condition." Nodding once, Mia continued to walk out of the emergency room, her head held high.

Sergeant Tanner tracked her movement until he could no longer see her anymore. As a man, Tanner could see why O'Conner had fallen in love with his mark's sister. She was everything Tanner would have wanted in a woman for his son; beautiful, intelligent, stubborn, and loyal. It was unfortunate; however, that Brian had fallen in love with the woman while undercover. Sighing, Tanner knew that he would have to be the one to tell Brian that his cover had been blown and that now everyone would be suffering from consequences of their decisions. Instinctively, he knew that whatever was going to happen was going to change everything.

Brian had been a fine officer, easy-going with his colleagues; stubborn when presented a case others had trouble solving. From the moment he had entered the police academy, the higher-ups had their eye on the young man, watching as he began to ascend through the ranks, his skills growing. Brian was someone who could have gone high in the police department. It was the reason why Tanner had chosen Brian for the mission. It was too bad that he hadn't foreseen that Brian's nature would come out and connect with the Toretto gang.

Now, Tanner could only hope that he hadn't lost a fine officer in the muck that was sure to be thrown around; a police officer shot while on undercover duty, potentially two public murders on the streets, and a federal investigation that had gone belly up.

"You can be damn sure that our superiors will not be happy with the results of this investigation. The media will be all over this like hellhounds around a dying man." Bilkins remarked as the two made their way to their car as Tanner called the officer manning the desk at the precinct.

Tanner paused as he went to open the door to the unmarked car, his mind suddenly latching on to what Bilkins had said. "The media has never been the friend of the department or a friend of the Bureau. I need to get back to the office. I'm sure the Watch Commander will want a preliminary report on the investigation for the press conference that will probably happen tonight." Tanner replied, a plan sitting at the back of his head. "He would want to make himself look good in the face of the public."


	3. Centrifugal Force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definition from the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: the apparent force that is felt by an object moving in a curved path that acts outwardly away from the center of rotation.

* * *

A blinding light woke up Brian from his drug-induced sleep, the dying sun bathing the room in red, yellow, and pink. The beeping of the heart monitor was in his left ear, loud and unrelenting. His body felt numb, as if he was floating on a pile of cotton in a still ocean. He tried to move his arm but it only rose an inch before flopping back. The slight movement caused pain to spike from his stomach, up in to his chest, seizing his lungs for a moment. A groan slipped past his lips, alerting the person that was in the room that he was awake.

"It's good to see that you're awake." A deep-voice said, chasing the sleep that beckoned him. Blinking wearily, Brian slowly turned to face the man sitting in the hospital chair, his eyes staring intently at him through his yellow-colored glasses. "The doctors said that you'll be fine after a couple months of rest."

"What happened?" His tongue felt thick and unmovable in his dry and parched mouth.

"I don't know, Brian. You tell me. The FBI is currently looking to bury the LAPD in a deep pile of shit over what happened since you were knocked out of commission." Tanner stated, not moving an inch even though he knew Brian wanted a drink to wet his mouth. "Do you remember anything before you were shot?"

Brian closed his eyes, trying to ignore the lull of sleep that was beckoning him. From the haze clouding his mind, blurred images came to his mind, a bearded man tried to a moving vehicle, an orange car spinning into a dust cloud, a helicopter landing, the bright red blood on his hands . . . .

"Johnny Tran." Brian said finally, trying to keep himself from vomiting over the bed sheets. He had never before come so close to dying during the years he had served on the force. "Johnny Tran happened. Shit."

"That's a pretty good term for what's happening now, Brian. He's dead."

His eyes shot open, his mouth agape at the calm statement from his mentor. "What? Who shot him?" The moment the question slipped from his mouth, he knew who had killed Tran. No other person made sense. It also confirmed what Tanner had been saying about him all this time.

"After you were shot, Toretto chased him and the cousin down. He killed Tran at point blank range. His cousin, on the other hand, fared a little better after being run over by an SUV, though it looks like the man's leg will have to be amputated, the limb was so badly mangled. Toretto was a model of self-control, wasn't he, Brian?"

Brian tried to ignore the verbal jab. "They were pissed about the raid we did on Tran's residence." He looked up at the white ceiling, trying to get his thoughts together. It was the raid he had green-lit that was the cause of Tran aiming for Jesse. If he had said no, the dragon would have continued to sleep undisturbed and Jesse would never have been singled out. "Tran was aiming to get even with Do- Toretto for the humiliation the raid caused him. He went after the person they would protect the most."

Either Tanner didn't register the slip of tongue or he decided to ignore it for the moment. "According to Toretto's sister, you and Toretto were arguing in front of the house when you got shot. What was that about?"

"Someone tipped him about me, probably one of the kids that want to get in his good graces. Also, he was suspicious already from Vince spitting out bullshit and he was even more wary considering Jesse was found so quickly by my unnamed friends. He started accusing me of being a cop. We fought and that's when Tran came to light the street up." Brian stated without going too much in details. He was too tired and too dazed still to come up with a story that would fit with the evidence.

"That would explain the hairline fractures in your ribs and the various bruising across your body that wasn't caused by the shooting or the little stunt you pulled on the truck. The neighbors did claim they saw you and Toretto fighting in his front yard. Looks like the department training and your martial arts training saved your ass from getting a bigger beat down." Tanner noted. Brian didn't show it but he was saddened that Tanner was already testing his loyalty. He couldn't blame him. After all, Brian was trying to save the family he just found without alienating the first one he joined years ago. "You might want to get some rest, O'Conner. Tomorrow, I'll be visiting to get the official statement of your testimony. No doubt Bilkins will want to come to question you himself. You might want to get yourself prepped for that since it will not be pretty."

Tanner was almost to the door when Brian spoke. "You were right about Toretto. I guess I should be relieved that I wasn't the only one to be duped by him." The detective raised an eyebrow at his statement but said nothing as he left.

* * *

Sergeant Nick Tanner checked over his image in the reflection on the glass, making sure nothing was out of place. He pulled off his glasses and wiped them with the eye cloth he had in his pocket to get them clean, thinking about the situation revolving around Brian and the failed FBI-LAPD operation. Out of the five possible suspects on the case, only one was in custody and in the hospital at that. There was also the bloodied semi-truck currently being moved to the LAPD precinct for evidence processing and of the remains of the two Civics left behind on the side of the highway; one was crumpled, the other shot in the radiator. Joining the only suspect in the hospital, of course, was the undercover officer who was injured defending the sister of the main suspect from a rival gang. Not to mention the said sister was also the officer's love interest.

Today was shaping up to be the best day of his career and it wasn't even over yet.

"Detective Tanner, Captain Ramirez will see you in his office now." The secretary said, looking harried. There was no doubt that she was also being stressed at the memos, notices, and calls coming her way. Due to the recent scandal that had been uncovered regarding the Rampart Division, there was no doubt that Ramirez was feeling the heat to handle the corruption in the gang unit. A plan tickled at Tanner's subconscious, his mind quickly going through all of the ramifications, both personally and professionally.

Brian was a good officer but still, he was human with human feelings. Every time an undercover officer went in during an operation, they risked becoming involved with the suspects they were monitoring. Very rarely would an officer become so involved that they became one of the natives, turning against the very agency that sent them in. When Bilkins had seen Brian's file, he had only seen what was in the file. Tanner, who had known Brian even before he had graduated from the academy at the top of his class, knew that the insecurities and child wants that Brian had repressed would be brought to the surface, battling with the morals and oaths Brian had taken up as an adult. When Brian had attacked Muse, it had only strengthened Tanner's belief that those wants were winning. The only question now was would Brian still be able to serve as an officer with those feelings brought to surface?

There was no doubt that Brian could become one of the best officers the LAPD had ever seen. It was the question if the risks Tanner would take would be worth covering for him?

"What the hell is going on in your precinct?" Ramirez practically hissed at the detective once the door was closed. "You were given an operation with the hope that it would be successfully resolved. Instead, there is now an injured officer in the hospital with multiple gunshots wounds, both the FBI and commercial companies are breathing down my neck to find out why the operation failed, and suspects that should have been in custody are now fugitives and probably in Mexico by now."

Tanner quickly summarized what had happened during the course of the operation, leaving nothing out. He also told Ramirez what Brian had told him once he had awakened from the surgery. From the preliminary results, it looked like the fallout of the operation had been due to the unseen tensions between rival street crews.

"In the end, there were unforeseen circumstances that quickly erupted. An opposing street racing gang thought it would be a good idea to shoot up the home of the main suspects. Unfortunately, our officer was there and was caught in the crossfire."

"The media will go crazy over this as this blew up from a raid on the wrong individual when in fact the actual perpetrators were the members of the team that the undercover officer had infiltrated." Ramirez remarked, leaning back in his chair, staring at Tanner. "They are going to want an explanation for why our UC did not figure out that it was the Toretto gang."

"Brian was trying to eliminate the other racing teams before focusing on the DT crew. He didn't want to risk crossing Toretto as he is a racing legend down there and could have quickly isolated him with a single word. Unfortunately when he came to Tran's garage, he found an entire cargo hold of TVs and electrical equipment that matched the trucking manifests." Tanner leaned forward. "It also didn't help that Bilkins was pressuring our officer into producing results. I wanted Brian to infiltrate the garage again to get more information on what the boxes actually contained, however, Bilkins was pushing to have the SWAT team go in, with or without Brian's say so."

"The truckers were beginning to arm themselves. Time was closing on that operation, Detective. We had to close the investigation as soon as possible."

"You and I both know that's not an excuse to rush an investigation. The media won't be so kind, especially now there are casualties from the mishandling of the case."

"The chief will want an update on this soon and nothing I heard is exactly positive, Tanner. To them, all of this mess was instigated by a piss-poor investigation by our forces. It really doesn't help that one of the shooters was methodically murdered in the middle of the street, in plain view with witnesses. The FBI, also, just lodged a complaint regarding O'Conner's actions. They state it was due to his shortcomings that the case was bundled."

"Officer O'Conner is one of my best. He was set to bring in Toretto when the shooting happened. He did his duty by protecting a civilian. I doubt the media would have liked it had the girl died while O'Conner was arresting the brother. Brian did try to protect the sister by covering her with his own body despite not wearing his vest."

"Someone would argue that's part of his job, especially since he technically put her in danger." Ramirez stopped pacing, looking out of the darkened window. "What is O'Conner's status?"

"The doctors are reasonably positive that Brian will pull through barring any further medical complication. According to the doctors, he is lucky that none of the bullets hit a major artery or organ. If one of them had, he would now be on an autopsy table and you'd be explaining how we lost one of our officers. Brian woke up about an hour ago and was coherent enough to provide a brief summary of his actions. I plan on getting the official record tomorrow with Agent Bilkins present. Thanks to him, we also have one member of the team in custody instead of being forced to bleed out along a highway by overzealous trucker. He won't be moving anytime soon."

Ramirez slowly nodded. "An officer risking his life to save a suspect from death; yes, that could work. Make sure the paperwork is filed correctly. I don't want the suspect to walk free due to a management error. You're dismissed."

Tanner left the office, noting that the spotlight was now going to focus on what Brian did that day.

* * *

The journey into Mexico was nerve-wracking. Due to her injuries, Leon was driving his Skyline, on the watch for any pig that might be following their ass. The border crossing in San Ysidro was the most grating moment Letty had ever waited for to be over, stuck among so many cars making their way one by one into the next country. Dozens of people were walking through the pedestrian crosswalks, their every movement tracked by the agents from US Customs, the Border Patrol, and the Mexican _federales_. Dogs and their handlers walked paths among the dozens of cars and trucks, searching for any contraband hidden among the metal and human flesh. The car in front of them was instructed to pull over to be searched but Letty and Leon were both waved on.

Letty didn't relax, however, until Leon pulled into their safe house in Rosarito and even then, it was only slightly.

Dom was still out there, searching for Jesse who was still on the run from Tran. Down in Mexico, there wasn't much for them to do anything except wait for them to arrive. Letty took the time to rest, lying out on the bed until she heard Leon yelling from the small living room. Painfully, she pulled herself up and made her way to where Leon was sitting on the couch, eyes glued to the shitty television set on the floor.

"What are you hollerin' for?" She asked grumpily, her mood not helped by the dozens of aches all over her body. Whiplash was a bitch, that's for sure. She knew from experience that it was only going to get worse tomorrow as she had been in a couple of car accidents herself.

"They say that an undercover police officer was shot during a drive-by shooting in Echo Park." Leon gestured to the CNN reporter on the screen, the Spanish translation rolling underneath.

" _\- the name of the undercover officer has not been released to the media at this time but we do have reports from anonymous sources that the officer is expected to live and fully recover from his wounds. There are no clear motives for the drive-by shooting yet but we do know that one of the individuals involved in the shooting was killed after a car chase through Los Angeles by another individual who lived at the house. The other suspect in the shooting is also in surgery after being hit by an SUV."_ The reporter stated to the camera, standing in front of the Rampart Division office.

_"Do we know why there was an undercover officer at that location?"_ One of the anchors was asking.

_"Reports are still murky at this time as the LAPD has yet to release any official statement on the matter, Laura. We have talked to some people who are involved in the investigation and said that the before-mentioned undercover officer was part of a larger investigation that is a joint operation between the LAPD and the FBI into the recent truck hijackings these past few weeks. They suspect that the perpetrators behind the hijackings are people from the underground racing scene. The undercover officer was sent in to investigate from the ground and to collect any evidence to bring them to court."_

_"Have there been any arrests into the original investigation?"_

_"Again details are sketchy but it looks like they do have a person in custody involving the hijackings. The status of that individual is not known but we do think he was probably injured on the latest hijacking attempt earlier this morning-"_ The network then switched to a scene of a bloodied semi-truck being loaded onto a tow truck, the broken left windows evident, CSI technicians helping to preserve as much evidence as they could while the semi was in transit.

Letty angrily slammed her finger down on the remote control, cutting the woman off in mid-sentence. She couldn't take anymore. Vince had been the one on the truck, bleeding out like a gutted cow, the cable wrapped tightly around his left arm, his hand stretched out to Dom for help. Never had she felt as helpless at that moment as the truck bumped her car, sending it tumbling off the highway.

The fact that it had been Spilner to save him angered her even more.

"What the fuck did you do that for, Let? That could have been the only way we found out what happened with Dom and the others." Leon said, watching as she got up and shuffled to the kitchen.

"We both know that Vince is the one they have in custody and from the sounds of it, they don't have Dom or Jesse in custody which means they're both on their way here." Letty didn't even mention the pig, instinctively knowing it was _him_ that had been shot in front of Dom's house. She didn't even care that he had been injured or relieved that he would make a full recovery. At the moment, she had wished he died. All she cared was that he had deserved for what he did to her family and betraying Mia's trust.

"But you don't know for sure, Letty. Tran has a lot of fools running all over LA." Leon yelled as she disappeared into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from the cabinet and went to the sink to pour herself some water. From the living room, she heard the television come back on at a lower volume. She gulped the water down, testing out her shoulder. Pain shot up the nerve to spike in her neck. Grimacing, she put the glass down on the counter and walked to the master bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She bit back a moan of pain as she carefully laid down on the warm blankets, kicking them all the way down to the foot of the mattress.

The hours continued to tick on, fraying Letty's even more until finally, she heard the familiar sound of high performance engine, one that she hadn't heard for years; the bellow of the turbocharger on Mr. Toretto's car. Not caring for the injuries she got in the crash, Letty scrambled from under the covers to the front door just as Dom emerged from the dented Charger.

Without Jesse.

"Dom, where's Jesse?"

"Back in LA." He snarled, slamming the door shut. Letty's heart leapt into her throat as she saw the specks of blood on his face, the pattern so different from the splotch of red that colored the hem of his shirt.

"Dom, what happened to you?" Letty said, reaching for his face. "And why did you leave Jesse?"

He brushed her off, ignoring the pained look on Letty's face that disappeared quickly as she pulled her emotions back in. Dom went into the house and straight to the refrigerator where Leon had stuffed the beers he had procured on the way down. "Because the fucking cop got to him first. The buster called his 'friends' in and they picked him up. He had the fucking audacity to drive Jesse's Jetta back to the house. And Mia was with him." He slammed his fist down, rattling the old table. "I can't believe she choose him over me. I'm her brother."

"Maybe Spilner has something on her." Leon said, exchanging glances with Letty.

"No, it sounded like she was doing it of her own free will." Dom said, taking a swing from the bottle. "They have Vince, too."

"We know. The reporters were talking about that. They said something about an officer being injured. Was it the buster?"

"Tran came back along with dick of a cousin. Shot up the place. A couple of the bullets hit Spilner and knocked him out. I chased them down and killed Tran and injured Lance."

"Dom, why did you do that? You'll be wanted for murder now."

"I'm not going back, Letty. I'll die before I go back so what does it matter now?"

"The cops will be all over this. They're going to come down harder on your ass." Letty said reasonably.

"And what about Jesse and Vince? They ran with you and might think they're an accomplice to murder as well."

"Leon's right, Dom. You're not running alone. We have to think things through now." Letty did not like the look on her boyfriend's face. "Where are going to go from here?"

"We need to keep traveling. Mexico has a treaty with the US to extradite criminals if they're caught here. We can't afford to settle down. We also need to get rid of the Nissan and the Charger."

Letty and Leon immediately protested the sale of the Charger. "Dom, that's your father's car. You can't just give it away."

"It's been registered at the DMV and the feds know I was driving it last. There were witnesses."

"You can change it back to stock condition, man. Get rid of the turbo and the hood."

"It's my choice. If we're lucky, we can cross into South America. I hear Rio has some good racing scenes down there."

"When should we leave?"

"In a couple of days. We need time to change the cars. Get some sleep, Leon. We have a busy couple of days ahead of us."

Leon went to bed, leaving Dom and Letty in the kitchen. "Papi, what's wrong? Is it what Mia said?"

"You weren't there, Let. You didn't see the anger on her face. She blamed me for everything."

Letty didn't know what to say to that. It had been Dom's idea to begin hijacking the trucks but they all had agreed to it, knowing they could pull it off. It was their greed, however, that got them in trouble. It wasn't just Dom's choices. When Mia had heard of their plans, she had ranted at them for hours before ignoring them for the first two weeks. She had only started talking to them right about the time the pig had shown up. "She's wrong, Dom. It wasn't your fault."

"You guys told me not to go on this last one. You told me we should have waited for Jesse. He's the youngest one of us and I chose to hijack a truck over searching for him even when I knew Tran was out on the street looking for him. I'm glad that he's safe from him now."

"Come on, papi. You can sleep after you take a shower." Letty pulled Dom to his feet, ignoring the pain in her abdomen and sides. They made it to the small bathroom in the master bedroom. Dom quickly divested himself of the bloody clothing, dropping it to the floor. Letty changed to a simple sweat pants and tank top while Dom took a quick shower. She had barely gotten under the covers when Dom stepped out. Her heart calmed the moment he slid into bed, wrapping his strong arms around her body.

Under her ear, she heard his heartbeat. The sound of it was soothing to her. Letty told herself that together, they could overcome anything. From here on out, it was ride or die. With that thought in mind, Letty drifted off to sleep, her injuries and nervousness of earlier pulling her deeply into slumber.

When Letty and Leon woke up the next day, however, Dom was gone, leaving behind a note for Leon to watch over Letty as she healed and a stack of cash from the previous heists on Letty's bedside table. Despite her reassurances, Letty knew Dom wasn't coming back.

* * *

The first thing that filtered through the fog that clouded Vince's mind was the sound of the hospital. His ears picked up the sound of the people moving on the other side of the door, calls coming over the intercom, adding to the headache that was making it known behind his eyes. The next thing that filtered through was the feeling of his body. There was a deep ache in his right arm, left side, and left thigh. There was a prickling sensation in the crook of his left elbow.

"Yo, V?" A soft voice asked, familiar and comforting in the alien room.

"Jesse?" Vince croaked out, his dry throat making it known. "'ater?"

"Oh, the nurse dropped off a pitcher." Jesse's voice rose back up to a normal level, the sound of a chair being pushed back echoing in the room. An object was placed at his mouth. "Here you go."

Vince greedily drank the water through the straw. The cup was soon empty. Once Jesse put the plastic cup back on the right table, Vince asked the question that was burning in his mind. "What happened to Dom and the others? And what happened with Tran?" Vince was afraid the Asian man would be tipped off that Jesse was at the hospital and with the injuries he had, he would not be able to protect the younger man.

Jesse was not good at lying; his face immediately crumpled, his hands twisting in his lap. "Um, you should talk to Mia about that. I don't know the exact details about what happened with you guys once I left Race Wars. I spent a number of the time at the precinct."

"Was Brian a pig?" Vince got his answer when Jesse swallowed nervously. "I fucking knew it." He thumped his good hand on the bed, ignoring the resulting twinge in his elbow and the increased beeping of the monitors. "I told Dom not to trust the faggot."

"V, calm down. The nurses don't want you over-exert yourself. They'll kick me out and Mia needs to talk with you. Badly, dawg."

That froze Vince's rant. "What the hell do you mean?"

Jesse ran a shaky hand through his hair, his leg beginning to bounce. Vince knew that Jesse was craving a cigarette then. When the craving kicked in, Jesse would run a hand along his beanie and bounce a leg while eyeing an exit. "The cops know you were injured trying to hijack the truck."

"Fucking cop." Vince felt the intense hatred for the buster rising up in him. "I bet he was the one who told them. I kept telling Dom not to trust the motherfucker, that the snowman was too good to be true but did he listen to me? No and now look what's happened to our family."

Any further ranting was interrupted once more this time by the RN stepping into the room. "Good, you're awake. We were beginning to worry that maybe the anesthesiologist gave you too much anesthesia during your operation. Your friend should have informed us that you were awake."

"He forgets things like that and I've only been awake for roughly five minutes." Vince said gruffly, eyeing the nurse who was now checking the monitors. "When will I be able to get out?"

"With your wounds, you'll be looking at a week at the most barring any further complications." The nurse jutted the readings down on the chart and turned off the alerts. "Let me check your vitals."

Once the nurse left, Vince focused his attention on his young friend. "Tell me, Jesse. Where's everybody?" He knew that if Dom had been able to, he would have been sitting here by his side, not Jesse.

"Dawg, everything is so fucked up." Jesse answered, shifting nervously in his seat. "The buster got shot up by Tran and his goons while protecting Mia. He's at another hospital. Then Dom went and killed Tran and wanted for murder by the cops. Leon and Letty are with him."

"And Mia?"

"She's trying to find a lawyer for you."

"Jess, head home and have a smoke. Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure, dawg?"

"Yeah, just go and watch over Mia for me and call me when the buster tries to come back." Vince wouldn't put it past the motherfucker to try and come back even though he was injured. He was sure that he or one of his buddies would try to take advantage of Mia being left alone to try and coerce her into giving up Dom's location. They would come by with words of something, subtlety searching for any hint to head their investigation. As much as Jesse cared about Mia, he wouldn't be able to take of Mia. Most likely, Mia would be taking care of Jesse with no one watching her.

"Okay, V. Get well, dawg." Jesse gave a small smile before slipping from his seat and out the door as he jammed his beanie back on his head. The nurse at the station gave him an evil eye as he withdrew a cigarette from his pocket, watching his every move until he left the ward.

Vince allowed his head to fall against the pillow, his mind trying to make sense of Jesse told him. Dom had left him here, taking Leon and Letty with him. Maybe he was trying to figure out a way to get to Vince without being caught himself. He knew the cops would be all over his ass for hijacking the trucks but they had needed the money at the time. Then there was the fact about the fucking pig that had invaded his home. Vince kept a hold on that anger.

He only hoped that Dom would get him out soon.

* * *

The breakfast Vince got from the nurses reminded him of the overcooked meals they used to serve at his middle school; grey, lumpy, and tasteless. Eggs weren't supposed to look like that but at least the orange juice tasted like oranges and was cool. His thoughts darkened when he remembered what Jesse had told him yesterday. He didn't know how the food was served at Lompoc but he had a feeling that the tasteless meals would become a daily thing for him if things went down the wrong way.

His musings were interrupted when he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes. Her name fell from his lips as he stared at her, taking in her presence. He had never seen her rundown before. Vince could tell she hadn't slept well the night before as evidenced by the dark circles under her eyes. Her long dark hair was wrapped in a loose bun that sat awkwardly on the side of her head, a few curls slipping free. The shirt she was wearing was slightly rumpled, giving her a harried look. Mia sat down, her hands clasping her purse.

"It's good to see you up, Vince. Have the nurses or doctors told you anything?"

"They said that I should gain fully use of my arm with physical therapy and make a full recovery in a couple of months. I'll be stiff for the foreseeable future." Vince answered.

He could see the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes, his heart constricting at the sight. "I thought we were going to lose you out there. You were losing so much blood."

"You know me; I'm hard to take down, Mia." Vince tried to joke but he could tell the joke didn't help. "How are you doing? Has Jess been taking care of you?"

"Good, considering the circumstances lately. I've closed the garage and the store until I work things out. I can't keep them open since I have no one to run them at the moment."

"Once I get out of here, I can hire a couple of kids to work on the cars." Vince started but Mia was already shaking her head. His gut tightened as a couple of tears broke free and trickled down her cheek.

"I was speaking with the lawyer, V. It doesn't look good for you. You've left so much blood over the side of the truck and the fact that you were wearing a harness with a pistol tucked into your pants and was lifted right where the hijacking took place that the cops now know it was you who was jumping on the semis. They are set to issue an arrest warrant soon once the DNA and fingerprints results come back from the labs. You can't even deny them from taking samples of your blood since the judge has enough of a warrant to force you to comply. You're looking at six, seven years in prison, V, more if they decide to pin you harder since they don't have anyone else."

A heavy weight settled in his stomach. "And Dom and the others, did they make it out alright?"

"The cops were able to recover only two of the Civics as Leon got rid of the third and it looks like they were able to lift fingerprints. Dom, Leon, and Letty will be on the run for the foreseeable future. Jesse's still with me but they might arrest him too if he touched the cars."

"Shit and all because of the buster." Vince started again, his anger spiking. He stopped when he saw the look on Mia's face. "You can't seriously still have feelings for the motherfucker? He was going to turn your brother in."

"You still would have been facing jail time, Vince, regardless whether Brian was here or not. In fact, if it hadn't been for him, you probably would have died out there." Mia started crying in earnest. "We couldn't do anything but watch you bleed out to death on the side of the highway. There wasn't anything we could do to stop the bleeding. Even in the Civic or the Supra, you would have bleed out before we even hit the city limits. He called the med-flight that brought you to the hospital in time. _I told_ Dom not to go. I don't know why none of you guys listened to me and now look where our family is. Even Brian got injured because of your bullshit stunts." She wiped at the tears from her cheeks, unable to say more.

The news of the buster getting injured penetrated the hatred that clouded Vince's mind. "What?"

"Dom and Brian were arguing about Jesse. Someone must have tipped off Tran that we were home because they came up the street, guns shooting everywhere. Three of the bullets that were meant for me struck Brian in the stomach. He wasn't wearing a vest and he still took the bullets. He underwent surgery at the hospital to close the wounds in his abdomen and to clean out the cavity to prevent further infection. His sergeant called me and told me he'll pull through barring any more medical complications. He'll probably be out before you as they were clean shots."

Vince shifted painfully, aware of the amount of damage his body took. "I'm sorry, Mia. This was never meant to hurt you. Dom just wanted the best for you." Even as he said it, Vince knew it was the wrong thing to say as Mia's eyes widened before narrowing in anger.

"Do you really think I needed the stress of hoping that nothing happened to you guys while you were out while I'm trying to study for my classes? The cops were eventually going to figure out it was our family behind the hijackings. They probably already knew and just needed the concrete proof it was us which is why they probably sent Brian in." Mia stopped, finally acknowledging Brian's role in all of this. She buried her face in her hands. "Oh God, all of this is so messed up. Why did this have to happen to us? Why did Dom decide to do this? We were finally settling down. The garage was doing well, the store was finally gaining instead of losing money, and Dom was off probation. Do you really think we were in that desperate need of money?" She asked of him. "Face it, V, the reason you guys wanted to do it was because it was to test your skills and it was just a bonus that you got money for it. There is no other excuse that you can hide behind."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." He tried to lamely explain their actions.

"That's not going to fly in front of the jury. You're lucky that the lawyer has come up with a plan that might lessen your jail time." Mia visibly deflated. "He said that since Dom was such a charismatic figure in our family, it could be argued that Dom manipulated all of you into helping him jack the semis."

"No, we can't do that to Dom." V almost shouted, sitting up but the pain that flared up caused him to lie down again, causing his face to break out in a sweat. He ignored the pain for the moment to face Mia. "You know Dom never pushed us." The words trailed off as the moments before they drove off on the last heist came to the forefront of his mind. Dom had rallied all of them into jacking one last truck even though Jesse had fled into the streets of LA to hide from Tran. Instead of looking for the younger man, Dom had chosen to go ahead with the last heist, even against all of their objections over how it was feeling. Traitorous thoughts crept up in his mind but he ruthlessly pushed it down but before he could speak, Mia began to talk fast.

"If you don't, V, you'll get hit with the full book. The only thing that's helping you is the fact that this is the first time you're being arrested. Dom, Letty, and Leon are out of their reach right now and can't be touched unless they get caught which I don't think will happen. If you're not going to do it yourself then at least do it for Jesse. You know for a fact that if he's sent to jail, they'll eat him alive."

"They have Jesse too?"

"I told you already, Vince. If Jesse touched the cars, they can build a case against him too. He hasn't been arrested but the cops are slowly trying to build a case against him too since it's known that he designs the cars for the DT crew and was one of our mechanics. The lawyer said that with the ADD, he can twist it to see that Dom took advantage of his skills by providing him with a family in return. If you plead the same way, it'll help Jesse's case as well. At least talk it over with the lawyer, V?"

"It just seems that I'm betraying Dom. I can't do that to him, Mia. You can't ask that of me."

Mia looked at her hands. "Do you really think Dom's coming back for you, Vince?"

He opened his mouth to say yes but he quickly realized that he sounded like a kid waiting for mommy to come and pick him up. Would Dom come back to save his injured ass? LA was probably crawling with cops and feds that were looking to arrest the man he saw as his brother. Not to mention that fact that the pigs might have someone watching the hospital. He knew Dom would never risk going back to Lompoc after what he went through there. He thought Dom would take care of them but in the end, the money was more important the safety of one of their own. That was something that Vince couldn't deny.

Dom had left Jesse to the wolves, choosing the last heist over the younger man.

"I don't know, Mia." He answered, leaning back.

"We have to take care of each other, V. That's all we can do now." Mia softly said, wiping at her wet cheeks. "I hate everything about this but we have no one else to trust now. Will you talk to the lawyer?"

"Yeah, Mi."

"I'll talk to him and see when it's a good time to speak to you. The police won't be able to talk to you until the medical staff declares you sound." Mia stood up, leaning over to kiss Vince on the forehead. "Get well soon. We have a long road ahead of us. Without Dom."

Vince nodded. "Take care of yourself, Mia. Don't let those punks walk all over you."

"After dealing with your bullshit and the team's, do you really I would let them?" Mia gave him a small smirk before leaving.

Vince closed his eyes, suddenly feeling along in the busy hospital. Deep inside of his bones, he knew from here on out, things would never be the same. And somehow, the fucking buster was going to be the cause of it. A tear made its way down his grizzled cheek, soaking into the cheap hospital pillow.


	4. Centripetal Force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definition from the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: The force that is necessary to keep an object moving in a curved path and that is directed inward toward the center of rotation.

* * *

Brian sat at the dinner table, hands clasped in front of him, eyes unfocused. It had been two weeks since he had been released from the hospital with the warning that he should be taking it slow to allow the bullet wounds to fully heal. It had been painful to use his abdominal muscles in any capacity, mostly when he wanted to shift the side he was laying on. The hospital had prescribed him Percocet but he had heard the stories about the officers that had become addicted to the pain medication and were laid off so he had stayed away from the small tablets as much as possible. Any sign of addiction would only full the flames that had been lit under him.

The moment he was able, he had stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom and lifted up his shirt. His breathing had sped up when he saw the mass of scars from the surgery afterward. Directly after the surgery, the entire area had been swollen in response to the open surgery. It had taken a couple of days for it to go down to a reasonable level. Now his washboard stomach had been nearly flawless, only marred by a couple of scars from surgery. Now, the surface was riddled with a bright red line that angled from the bullet wound highest on his right side, angling down to the bullet hole hitting him from an angle to the bullet hole that entered from the front. The surgical wound was approximately about a foot long but thankfully to the skill of the surgeon that worked on him, the ridge would only be a few millimeters wide. He knew that it was going to leave a scar but to still have it present was providing Brian with the evidence on how close to death he came to be.

The wound slowly healed, the brightness disappearing as the days passed. Staying alone in his house, however, was driving him up the wall as the memories of the past two months kept haunting him day and night.

The investigation was still ongoing but Tanner was keeping him updated as much as he could. Due to Ramirez's political maneuvering, Brian was being painted as a heroic officer who had placed a civilian's life above his own. The media was eating it up so far, painting him as a hero who had jumped from a moving vehicle to a rogue truck driver and using his own body to protect another. Due to the gag order issued by the court as Brian was still labeled an undercover officer, his name had not been released to the media. In fact, the LAPD had issued him a pseudonym to use in court.

According to the latest news, the case was almost solid against Vince. The DNA and fingerprint analysis had come back from the forensic lab, proving that Vince was at the scene. Also, testimony from the responding paramedics and the truck driver had only strengthened the prosecutor's case. The only possible threat was Brian's own dalliances with Mia. When he was being interrogated by Bilkins and his superiors, Brian had forced himself to admit that he was blindsided by the emotions he was feeling for her. Ramirez had scowled deeply but Tanner stood by him, stating that Brian had still closed the case.

According to Tanner, Vince was being charged with grand theft, reckless endangerment, and a slew of other charges the prosecutors were digging from. At best, he was looking at five years but Brian knew some juries would be squeamish at the stunts the Toretto crew pulled. Also it didn't help that in the past few weeks, there had been accidents involving teens racing on what they thought were unused roads. The most recent had actually claimed the lives of a mother and child coming home from a play recital. The atmosphere would not be forgiving for Vince and Jesse.

His eyes focused on the unmarked sedan across the street, eyeing the two men inside who looked as if they were reading the newspaper. It would have been believable if the newspaper was not a week old. His instincts were telling him that it was not the LAPD who was stalking him but rather the FBI. The federal agency was the organization that was investigating the Rampart Scandal so it wasn't a big leap that they were checking to see that he wasn't a corrupt officer as well.

It also prevented him from contacting Mia.

He couldn't risk calling her on his home phone or even a payphone. Internet and mail probably weren't being monitored but Brian wasn't willing to take the risk if he was wrong. Going to her house was definitely out of the question. There wasn't really a viable option since the FBI might have his ass thrown in jail for aiding and abetting.

"Ay, mama, look who we have here." A familiar Latino slid into the seat across from Brian, his dark eyes drilling into his own. "Haven't seen you in a while, ese." The man sneered.

Brian sat back, resting his arms on his thighs, out of the man's sight. His horde of friends surrounded him, all of them with angry faces. There was no doubt in Brian's mind that he would not be able to defend himself against an attack involving all five men at the same time. "You know why I haven't been down to the races, Hector."

The man hissed, some of his anger bleeding out. He leaned forward onto the table. "Yeah, I know the reason why you don't come around, pig. The words out on the street that you're a pig."

Blue eyes flicked toward the car where the two men were suddenly interested in what was going on inside the diner. "I am a cop. I refuse to hide, Hector." Brian knew that the word would have gotten out on the street that Toretto had been forced to run due to the newbie being a cop. Not even the court ordered gag could prevent that. He leaned forward, meeting Hector's glare. "But if I had been doing my duty, Dom would have been in jail a long time ago."

"And we should be friends." Hector waved a hand around, eyebrow cocked in derision. His homies laughed in derision. "It doesn't work like that."

"If you came here to put me back into my place, bro, I wouldn't do it here." Brian calmly said.

"Going to hide behind your badge, puto?" One of Hector's homies jeered, leaning down.

"I could care less but I don't think my little watchdogs would."

Hector's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Had things gone down a different way, I don't know what I would have done. The FBI knows I wouldn't have been able to bring him in because of what Dom confided in me and my own feelings for Mia. That's why they're having me watched. No, don't look around. They think they've been shading me without letting it slip." Brian warned Hector before the man could turn his head.

"Why would they think that you would do such a thing? You're one of them."

"I had a life before you meet me, Hector. I guess sometimes, the spots just don't fade that easily." He had a juvenile record; the documents since destroyed but at one time, they had existed. Looking back at it now, Brian wondered how he had ever survived that. Part of him knew it was because of his mom, part of it luck. In fact, he could have easily been just like Dom. Instead of wallowing in pity of things that had been lost, however, Brian had pulled himself out of it and tried to do something with his life. It had helped that Brian had an officer willing to put effort in keeping the young adult off the streets once he had been released. Brian's eyes focused on the waiting man. "I'm trying to do what I can for Mia legally. Hopefully, the lawyer she got can do his job and try to get Vince off the hook with what I have suggested. If not, there's another route I can take."

"Another route to take?"

Brian lifted his chin. "Deals can be made with the prosecutors under the right circumstances. Plus I have skills that they could use in certain operations."

"You'd be willing to do that for Dom?"

"No, not Dom."

Hector quickly caught on to what he was saying. "For the sister. You've got balls, ese, thinking she even wants you after what you did."

"I've got nothing but time." A thought suddenly hit Brian, his mind grasping it as way to talk to Mia without really talking to her. "Or I could just be stupid." Brian glanced at the car quickly calculating the risks and benefits of the plan he was coming up with. "But for this to work, I'm going to need to communicate with Mia. With the car there, I don't know if Mia is also being monitored which they probably are since they want to capture Dom."

"The King isn't that stupid to come back when the heat is raging." Hector was quiet for a moment. "What do you have in mind?"

Brian leaned back, keeping the smile that threatened to split his face in half in check. As quickly as he could, Brian laid out the mail service, emphasizing they couldn't be caught. Hector nodded, knowing how serious this was. After their conversation was over, Hector stood up. One of his homies bumped shoulders with Brian roughly. "This still doesn't make us friends, holmes, but I will tell you that it's best if you don't show your face at the races anymore."

"Understood." Brian watched as the Hispanic man led his posse out the diner, relieved that he'd be able to talk to Mia.

* * *

_Aceso,_

_I hope this reaches you. The ABCs are probably watching both of us, mostly you in hopes of trying to reach Titan and the rest. Satyr and his gang will act as our messengers. Burn each letter in case they come by. Have you heard of any news on Helios and Spitfire? And how's Brainiac?_

_Just keep to the plan. The HBOs and the Kiss Asses are eating up my story though I think the lead G man is suspicious as well as my boss._

_Frosty_

* * *

_Frosty? Are you serious? How did you come up with those names?_

_I guess you're not totally blonde if you knew who Aceso was. I haven't heard from the other two yet. Vulcan is still mad at you but he's turning around. He agreed to go with what the lawyer has planned. He knows what to do. Brainiac wants to trust you but he doesn't know yet. How are you?_

_Please heed Satyr's warning. I've been hearing a lot of things on the streets. None of them pretty._

_Aceso_

* * *

_Aceso,_

_Wounds are healing nicely. They're just painful. Still on beach time. IA is going over the shooting but still on pay roll. Don't think they're taking the tattoo off anytime soon._

_Yeah, I have a feeling there's still some bad feelings. Saw a few of the crew. They wanted to beat my ass but luckily I had one of my colleagues with me. Paperwork is a bitch. I'd rather be riding actual waves._

_Frosty_

* * *

_Frosty,_

_I have to close the garage down. I can't find any replacements to help Brainiac keep it open. Between him and me, we should be able to work the café together. I'm thinking for this semester, I need to withdraw to help pay the bills for Vulcan and Brainiac._

_Aceso_

* * *

_Aceso,_

_Ask Satyr if he can lend a couple of his guys to help Brainiac. I can send you some money. I raced in the outskirts of LA before that first race against Titan and won a couple. I still have the cash._

_Frosty_

* * *

_Exactly how long were you getting ready for this case?_

* * *

_A month. . . ._

_I'm sorry for everything._

* * *

_You better make it up for me, Frosty._

* * *

_I'm trying._

* * *

Letty held the small thin box in hand, wondering what she would do if the results were positive.

Ever since Dom had left, Letty had been feeling off. For the past week or so, she had been throwing up the moment she woke and was suddenly queasy when smelling eggs. At first, she thought it was the stomach flu but other than the vomiting, she didn't have any other symptom other than sleeping a lot. It had gotten to the point that Leon thought it was probably a hidden injury from the rollover.

But she was beginning to suspect another condition, one that scared her even more.

She was barely 22 years old and a wanted suspect in a federal case. The father of her child was the prime suspect and wanted for killing a man in cold blood. The family she could at one time depended on for help was scattered to the four winds. Mia was now alone with the youngest of their group in the United States, struggling to keep the grocery store/café afloat while trying to find mechanics that could help Jesse in the garage while trying to study. Vince was in jail, waiting for his trial after being released from the hospital. Due to his racing reputation and the fact the others had fled, the judge had denied bail. Leon was stuck with her, trying to find work down here to keep food on the table and Dom was where God knows where.

If she was pregnant, how could she be able to support a child while on the run?

The thought of abortion crossed her mind but she quickly rejected it. The baby was a part of her and a part of Dom. No matter how much he caused her pain, she could not get rid of it as she still loved him.

Taking a deep breath, Letty opened the box and shook the small plastic test into her hand. The instructions were simple; piss on the test and wait five minutes. A small red dash meant her life was still the same as before while a blue plus meant it was going to change forever. She could do this. How hard could it be? All she had to do was stick this down there and made sure she hit it right. Driving a car under a moving semi at 70 mph was so much harder.

Ten minutes later, Letty was still in the bathroom, trying to bring up the nerve to do her business.

If she was going to do this, it had to be soon. Leon was out, getting the groceries for tonight's dinner. The front door slamming had Letty exploding into action, the fear of Leon finding the stick spurring her on. Letty quickly did her business, holding the stick between her legs as she pissed. Once the cover was wet, she pulled it and cleaned herself up. Feeling icky, Letty placed it on the counter and washed her hands, not glancing at the white test as it sat there.

Five minutes. Already, it felt like an eternity.

Letty paced the bathroom, glancing at the mocking little thing. She had never been the motherly type. That title had always gone to Mia who cooked them breakfast, made sure their laundry was done, the house was clean, the kitchen stocked. Letty had been content on working on the cars that came to the garage, not caring when she was covered in grease, grime and dirt. She had been one of the boys.

How was she going to take care of a child, her child? Could she even do it? Her patience was non-existent. She could curse and drink a sailor under the table. When it came down to it, she could fight back. Hair pulling was not her style. Fuck no, she could and would deliver that knockout punch. Changing diapers, cuddling a kid, motherly shit like that was not her thing. If she tried to take care of it, the kid would grow up to be so fucked up, it would be like giving birth to a little demon.

She paused in front of the mirror, her eyes going over her features; her long curly black hair, the smooth skin. Would her child have that? What features would he or she get from their dad? If it was a boy, would he be just as tall as his father, just as well-built? If it was a girl, would it have that same fiery personality, a bitch who would take no shit from just anybody? And when it got older, what type of car would it choose?

Letty reached out with a hand but stopped as she stared at it. It was shaking. Her lips and hand tightening, she steeled her will. She wasn't some pussy-fighting racer slut. Opening her hand, she reached out and picked it up.

She flipped it over.

Her ass hit the ground. The small window where the results would appear had a small blue plus, bright and strong.

She was pregnant with Dom's child.

Fuck.

Pounding at the door had Letty shakily getting from, sliding the plastic test into the back of her jeans. Opening the door, she leaned against the doorjamb, hoping that Leon wouldn't see anything amiss. "What the fuck do you want, Leon?"

"I hope you're up for some takeout." Leon asked, eyeing her. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine." She said, getting out of the bathroom and stalking toward where Leon had spread out the meal he had brought from the store. With jerky movement, she began to serve herself, slapping some carnitas onto the still warm tortillas and spooning guacamole and pico de gallo on top.

"Dude, girl, what has the food done to you?"

"Nothing so shut up."

"It doesn't seem like nothing. Is there something that you're not telling me? Did Dom call?"

"No, the fucker still hasn't called. Fucking bastard." Letty snarled, the sound of Dom's name enraging her further. The fucker knocked her up and he didn't have the decency to stay, leaving her to deal with the baby.

"Chill, Let. He probably thought he was doing the right thing by taking the heat off of us." Leon said. "You don't have to act like a bitch over it."

She exploded. "It's because I'm fucking pregnant, you stupid asshole." Letty screamed, slamming her hands down on the tabletop, breathing heavily. "The fucking _puto_ didn't have the balls to stay with me and now I have to take care of our child alone."

Leon's eyes widened at the revelation, mouth open. "W-what?"

"Pregnant. Knocked up. Carrying a fucking bun in the oven. What other metaphor do you want me to use?"

Leon blinked. "Damn."

"That pretty much sums it up."

"Do you regret it?"

"What do you mean I regret it? It's my kid!"

"Sounds like you don't want it." Leon pointed out. "You and Dom never seemed to talk about having a kid the whole time you've been together."

Letty slumped in the chair. "We were not ready for it. I'm still not ready for it."

"Well, girl, it's here so what are you going to do about it?"

"It's not its fault that it's here. Yeah, I wish the circumstances were better but it's still my kid." Letty blew a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes out of her face. "He's mine and I want to keep him."

"Are you going to let Mia know? It's her potential niece or nephew you're carrying there."

"Why should she know? She turned her back on the family, on Dom."

"Out of all of us, she's the only one who isn't a wanted felon at the moment, Letty. Plus, she has the traitor with her so they might be able to do something to help us out. You don't want your child born on the run."

"When did you become the reasonable one?"

Leon shrugged. "It had to happen sometime. So, what are you going to do?"

"Let me call Hector. He's probably running the scene now that Dom's gone."

* * *

Mia wove her hand through her thick locks, her eyes going over every single bit of the papers before her on the kitchen table. The papers for the café and the garage were laid out. The garage had only been closed for a month before Hector was able to find a couple of people to work it while Jesse came up with the plans. The judge had been kind enough to grant bail for Jesse for about ten thousand dollars on the condition that the young man wore an ankle bracelet to monitor his every movement and checked in every week at the LAPD office. Vince had been denied.

The café was also open except it opened later than usual since Mia was now the only person to go over the paperwork for both places. She also visited Vince in the hospital to keep him from attacking the nurses that watched over him.

According to the doctor, V would have to go through physical therapy for a couple of months before regaining full use of his arms. The wounds on his side and arm had healed, leaving behind puckered skin. The once pristine and clean edged tattoo that wrapped around his upper arm was now bifurcated by a spiraling scar that started on the top of his shoulder blade all the way down to the middle of his forearm. The wound on his side had healed in a scar that stretched for seven inches across his oblique muscle.

She could only image the scars on Brian from the three gunshot wounds he received to the lower abdomen.

The sound of phone ringing had Mia breaking free from the morbid thoughts. Without looking at the caller ID, she answered it. "Toretto household, Mia speaking."

"Yo, girl. You will not believe the news I got for you."

* * *

His feet pounded the sand, his thighs burning as he ran across the beach. Sweat covered every part of his skin, dripping off his jaw. His grey LAPD t-shirt was stuck in his back pocket, his eyes hidden behind wraparound sunglasses. Brian could not believe how bad he was out of shape after being in the hospital.

He had only been cleared for light duty from the doctor now that his scars were healed and the IA had cleared him of any wrong doing on the mission. Tomorrow would be his first day back on the force after the Toretto case. Tanner had told him that they were sticking him on desk duty as they wanted to make sure that he didn't push himself too far to put himself back in the hospital.

Stopping by a life guard's shack, Brian paused to stretch out his protesting muscles. He didn't want to give them any reason why he couldn't go back so he was going to call it quits for today. After a fifteen-minute stretch, Brian turned back in the direction of his car, his pace loping.

When he reached the sidewalk, he slowed down to a walk and pulled his t-shirt from his pants, ignoring the looks of appreciation that turned to horrified interest from the female beach-goers once they caught sight of the surgery scar. It was no longer bright red but was now a prominent landmark on his stomach due to his tan. He wondered briefly what Mia would say when she saw them as he wiped off any excess sweat on his face.

His eyes shot toward the windshield when he saw something tucked under the right wiper of his Mustang. Without missing a beat, he pulled it from underneath and opened the door, throwing it on the passenger seat. He pulled on his grimy t-shirt and got in the car.

Throughout the whole ride back to his house, he wondered what Mia had written in her letter. The last few had been stilted after he had apologized for destroying her family. Thinking about it now, it probably wasn't the best of ideas considering the distance between them. Plus words were empty without action to back them up.

Once he was settled at home after a shower, Brian opened the small letter, his gut clenching. Was this the letter where Mia would tell him to fuck off and never talk to her again? Apprehensive, he looked at it, bringing the front page into the light so he could read it. The two words floored him completely.

_Spitfire's pregnant._

Pregnant; the small Latina spitfire that had leveled Lance Nguyen at Race Wars with a single punch to the face was now expecting a child of her own. How was she going to raise a child while on the run? What could happen if she was caught and the child taken from her? Mia would be the aunt she was and take the child in but that would mean giving up school. Then there was the fact that no child should have to live without its parents. There were times that Brian hated being a cop.

If he had a say, this child would not be losing if its mother at least.

Taking out paper and a pen, Brian began to write his response back to Mia, detailing what he was going to do to bring Letty back home and reunite part of her family again.

* * *

Jesus wolfed down the meal Mia had cooked, munching steadily away at the freshly made tamales. Jesse played with his beanie, waiting for Mia to open Brian's most recent letter.

She untucked the flap and pulled out the pages that Brian had filled with his writing. Opening it up, she began to read. Most of it was personal but the first few paragraphs were all about what he was going to do about Letty.

_At this point, I can say that Spitfire being pregnant did not help the situation at all but since she is your family, you would obviously feel overjoyed at that you'll be having a niece or nephew soon._

_I do have something in mind that can see you and Brainiac being reunited with Spitfire and Helios soon though undertaking the plan would have inherent risks of its own, depending on what the idiots higher than me come up with. If they do let me go in to clear Spitfire's records, there will be a time where you won't hear from me. I know it will be hard, not knowing my whereabouts but if it brings Spitfire home and her kid then it's a risk I'm going to have to take. And maybe, I can have the records for Vulcan, Brainiac, and Helios cleared._

Mia read out that part to Jesse who smiled slight, his knee jumping in excitement. "What do you think he had planned and do you really think it's going to work?"

"I don't know Jesse." The sentence about her not hearing him for a while obviously had her concerned. That's when it clicked. "He plans on going undercover again." That statement froze everyone in her kitchen, including Jesus. "He's going to the FBI and in exchange for clearing their records he'll do an undercover mission for them."

"But he almost got killed on the last one. Why would he want to do it again?"

The dark ink of Brian's words stood out. "He's doing it to fulfill the debt he feels is owed by him. During the small time we had together, I tried talking about his family but he never really replied about it. The only thing he talked about was his mom but never his dad."

Jesse's face scrunched up as he tried to remember something, a hand going to his beanie to move it back from where it was slipping into his eyes. "While we putting the new parts into the Supra, we were talking about how we first learned to drive. Brian mentioned that his mom taught him when he was 16 and caused a highway accident the first time he drove."

"That's just it. He never talks about his dad and when you try, he evades the question." Mia fingered the paper. "He's just trying to find a family and when Brian finally found it, it was in the worst situation ever. He's just trying to keep it together now as much as he can."

"Are you going to tell V?"

"He deserves to know that Letty is pregnant and Dom's not with her. That's going to piss him off even more."

"And Brian?"

"No, he still refuses to talk about him. The lawyer finally found out who's going to testify during the trial. Brian was on there as a witness for the prosecution. Plus, he doesn't know that I'm still in contact with him."

* * *

Mia sat quietly in the bench behind where Vince and Jesse were sitting. Both of her friends were dressed in clean suits. Vince was clean shaven, all hints of his scruffy beard gone while's Jesse's hair had been neatly combed into order, highlighting his young, boyish features. To their right sat the attorney Mia had procured for them. It was the same lawyer who had defended Dom all those years ago. If Mia was to tell the truth that small fact may have been the reason why V had listened to the lawyer and agreed to the plan Mia and Brian had come up with.

The two prosecutors for the city were sitting at the other table quickly conversing over the documents on hand, probably going over the last minutes details of their case for today.

The trial was on its fifth day, the media all over it like vultures swarming over a fresh carcass, looking for the best place to pick at. The lawyer for V had told her that the burden of proof was on the prosecutors who had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Vince and Jesse had done crime. When the charges were first filed at the court house, Samuels had hoped that he could drive the prosecutors to the bargaining table and have them accept a plea bargain. Mia had told him that the undercover officer had slept with her; he had said that he could use that to twist the prosecutors to a plea bargain rather than risk having the trial end with the charges being thrown out.

Things had not gone according to plan when the prosecuting attorneys had refused to come to the table, believing the evidence they had was solid enough to ensure a guilty verdict. With the testimony from the truck driver and the paramedics on the med-flight, they could conclusively state that it had been Vince on that truck as well. Also, Jesse's fingerprints had been found on the engine blocks of the three cars. Due to his prison time, Dom's fingerprints and semen had been found on the car as well.

But today, that wasn't what made Mia apprehensive.

No, it was the fact that today would be when Brian would take the stand for the prosecutors as an Expert Witness. Samuels hoped to rip Brian's reputation apart and create a dent in the case that would allow Vince and Jesse to slip free.

"All rise." The bailiff called out as the judge entered the court room dressed immaculately in his black robes. "Please be seated. This trial is now in session. Case number F89310, the State of California vs. Vincent Lindberg and Jesse Bradford who are charged of-" The bailiff rattled off the list of charges filed against the two men. "The honorable Judge William Sands presiding; you may be seated."

"You may call your first witness of the day." The judge ordered the prosecutors.

"We call Undercover Officer Spilner to the stand to the stand." The lead prosecutor stated, using the pseudonym they had received from the LAPD.

The doors to the courtroom opened, a figure stepping through and confidently striding down the center aisle, dressed immaculately in a grey-blue suit. From where she sat, Mia heard growls as the bailiff meet Brian at the door and allowed him to enter the inner sanctum of the room. The bailiff escorted him to the stand and quickly swore him in.

The lead prosecutor stood a paper in his hand. "Can you please tell us your name, occupation, and a brief summary of your experience?"

"My undercover name is Brian Spilner and I am a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department, grade II. I was employed when I was 21 years old after joining the academy when I was 20 and a half years old. That would be a little over three years of experience on the force."

"Can you describe the events of the undercover assignment from the moment you brought onto the case?"

"My supervisors called me to their office and told me about a case they were overseeing along with the FBI. They believed Dominic Toretto and his crew were the perpetrators. The racing community is very tight and took me a couple of weeks to get into Toretto's good graces, allowing me to enter the racing scene."

"Can you explain how you got into his good graces?"

"The first prolonged contact with mark was at the night I came onto the scene. After racing, the other units came on to the scene and I was able to pick up Toretto before he was apprehended. Since no one else from his crew did that, I was able to get into his good graces."

"And what happened after that?"

"The car that the PD gave me for the assignment had been destroyed by another street crew under the leadership of Johnny Tran. The PD were not aware of this and during the ride after the race and the ensuing raid, we slipped into his territory. The loss of the vehicle placed me in debt with Toretto who said I would have to replace it with a vehicle with equal value. I took this as a way in."

"During this time, you were able to build a rep?"

"Yes, from the position that I found myself in. I took the time to eliminate all other racing crews. Watching the defendants allowed me to see they had skills necessary to pull off the heists with the precision the truckers told us the hijackers had."

On and on it went, the prosecutor carefully guiding Brian through the events that led up to the day of the hijacking and shooting.

"Any further questions?"

"No, your honor."

"Defense may now question the witness."

"Officer Spilner, you said that you have served three years on the force?"

"Yes, I did."

"At any time, during the three years have you had any experience of doing undercover work out in the field?"

"Not out in the field, no." Brian answered, watching the attorney.

"So, this was your first time."

"Yes."

"So, Office Spilner did Agent Bilkins or Sergeant Tanner give you permission to do whatever it took to close the case?" The defense attorney said, pacing before the witness stand.

"Within reason and law." Brian said, tensing slightly as he knew where this was going.

"Within reason and law," The defense attorney parroted. "Was it within reason to sleep with the primary suspect's sister?" The question came out crisp and sharp. The people packed into the courtroom visibly started, whispers breaking out.

"Order." The judge commanded sternly, glaring out over the crowd. The whispers died away and the bodies stilled. "Witness, answer the question."

"As I thought my life was in danger, yes." More whispers broke out a few women staring at Bran angrily. Mia closed her eyes, trying to repress the voices that arose in her mind. Vince was audibly growling, looking as if he wanted to kill Brian before the court.

"Her brother and primary suspect, Dominic Toretto was notoriously known to be protective regarding his sister. From the moment, I stepped into the store, I could tell she was interested in me, however, she was not the reason why Toretto accepted me. The events after the first race sealed my entry into the crew. During the course of the operation, her interest became much more obvious."

"I still don't see why you felt it was justified to sexually abuse your position, officer."

"Objection, your honor, it has not been proven that Officer Spilner broke any law."

"Sustained. Rephrase your question or move on."

"Officer Spilner, can you please explain your course of action regarding the suspect's sister?" The lawyer asked sweetly, knowing that in the minds of the jurors, the damage was already done.

"One morning while working on Exhibit 3A, Toretto came up and told me that he would break my neck if I hurt her."

"Many brothers say that regarding their younger sisters. I don't see how that could possibly explain why you felt the need to sleep with Ms. Toretto."

"I haven't heard of anyone's brother of having beaten a man's face into a bloody pulp with a ¾ socket wrench so bad he has to take the bus to work every day." Brian answered flatly.

The defense lawyer continued to rip into Brian, bouncing between Brian's time in juvenile detention which Mia, Vince, and Jesse found to be true and the relationship between Mia and Brian. He even brought up the fights in juvenile detention that Brian had fought, especially learning of his mother's death and how it exemplified how out of control Brian was. Samuels stopped short of accusing Brian of setting up the Torettos or even the deal with Jesse.

"You saw how dangerous the Tran clan was but you did nothing to stop the race from happening." Samuels stated.

"I called for an APB on Mr. Lindberg's license plate number. That's what ultimately saved his life as someone was watching the Toretto household. He was brought in by another police officer and kept in protective custody."

After four hours, the defense lawyer rested. The prosecutor went back and briefly brought out how Brian's past made him suitable for the undercover operation.

Finally, they broke for the day. As they walked out of the courtroom, Mia saw Brian talking to an older man with glasses that she recognized as Detective Tanner. Almost as if she had called out to him, Brian raised his head, his sharp, blue eyes locking with her. In that one unguarded moment, she saw the feelings he had for her before the shutters fell and his head dropped. Hand tightening around the strap of her purse, Mia forced herself to look away but god, how much she wanted to run to him and shake him for answers.

They still had their parts to play especially if they wanted to bring Letty and her unborn niece or nephew home. The plan to bring Letty home wasn't the only thing on her mind; how would her and Brian be able to get back together now that the rest of the public believed that he had used her to get close to her brother? Would they even be able to move past it? Could she trust him again?


	5. Event Horizon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definition from the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: the boundary of a black hole beyond which nothing can escape from within it.

* * *

Brian looked up at the knock on the wall to see a new rookie standing there. "O'Conner, the sergeant wants to see you in his office."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Brian looked around his small cubicle, checking to see if there was anything that needed his attention before he went to Tanner's office. Even though he was only part of Dom's crew for a couple of months while he had been an officer for over three years, it felt odd being back in the navy blue uniform of the LAPD.

It had been a few weeks since the end of the case against Vince and Jesse. Just like he had known, the jury had not sympathized with Vince because of his looks and gruff demeanor. He had been found guilty after only four hours of deliberation and sentenced to the full seven years with the possibility of being paroled for good behavior. Jesse, thankfully, had only received three years of probation where he was forbidden to race any cars. Unfortunately, he had been prohibited from designing and modifying any car to be an illegal racer. Through the letters Hector's group was still secreting to him, Brian had learned that Mia had been able to find a couple of mechanics to oversee the garage while she had hired a teenager to help out at the store. The LAPD had kept their word and left Harry alone; the man had decided to help the Toretto garage as much as he could. He had also learned that Mia had needed help to pay the bills for college. A package had arrived at her house containing enough money to cover the tuition and textbooks that she needed.

Patting himself down and smoothing down his navy blue uniform, Brian stood up. As nonchalantly as he could, he crossed the room heading for where his mentor's office was, ignoring the looks and whispers of the other police officers. Despite the success of the case, the rumors that he was a dirty cop still floated in the gossip-strewn lockers and hallways of the police station. He knew that those rumors would follow him until he left the force or was forcibly retired. In the dark of the night, he focused on Mia's letters, reminding himself why he was doing this. The hope that he would be able to be with Mia without shame was what kept him moving forward despite the obstacles in his path.

At Tanner's office, Brian studied the man that had been his mentor once he had been hired by the LAPD. The older man looked more ragged and tired than usual. Tanner was messaging his eyes, his glasses dangling off of one hand. He felt bad that he had betrayed him for everything he had done but he couldn't bring himself to let Mia go. He knocked on the doorjamb.

"Come in, Brian." Tanner pointed him to one of the chairs before the desk. "Sit down. There are some things you need to know."

Brian took the offered chair, trying to keep his body from twitching under Tanner's scrutiny. "How bad is it?"

"It isn't bad per se." Tanner cleaned his glasses before putting them back on. "As you know, the mayor's position was embattled in the office due the issues surrounding the political battlefield. It seems his gamble to show you as a gallant officer wasn't enough. He'll be leaving by the end of the year probably along with the police chief. Luckily for you, the chief was able to sign your request to transfer to the Metro Division. Do you still want to go through with the transfer?"

Brian rested his head on his hand, mulling it over. As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew that the officers at this police station no longer trusted him and not being able to trust your partner could get you killed. There was always the risk that he went on a call and would need back up. He had heard tales of officers that had been labeled traitors and where the other officers would not come to their aid. "Yeah, I want to go through with this. It'll give me a fresh start. Have you walked with the captain at Metro?"

"I have. His name is Fuller. I think he's heard of your exploits here but he's still willing to give you chance due to your file and your exceptional scores at the academy."

"I'm taking to mean that he hates my guts but since the chief signed off on it, he can't do anything about it."

"That sounds about right." Tanner agreed. "You might want to be on your best behavior there, Brian. He'll probably be looking for any reason to stick you in the gun cages or the garage where you won't be able to climb out from."

Brian sighed. He head tales of the officers who were punished by sending them to the gun cages or the garages. There, the other patrol officers would treat the others as if they were lower class, intentionally get their equipment dirty or damaged so as to make the others suffer more to get them cleaned and prepared on time. He didn't plan on being anyone's whipping boy. "I should probably look forward to the graveyard shifts and start stocking my fridge with energy drinks."

"Brian, it's not a laughing matter. Fuller is known to have a grudge and a very long one at that. He wants to climb into the chief or mayor's chair. Fuck with him and he'll try to screw you over."

"Do you think he will be disgruntled if I took some vacation off before I officially transfer over to his department?"

"Yes, I do believe he will be irritated if you do decide to take your vacation then. Fuller won't play with you, Brian. He'll probably bury you in his office closet and leave your skeleton there as a warning to others." Tanner eyed the younger man, wondering why he had asked the question. The whole time he had worked in his division, Brian had rarely asked for days off unless it was for sickness. Frankly, Tanner had to force Brian to go on vacation before his days expired and frankly that move wasn't due. Unless . . .

"You're planning to do something stupid." Tanner stated, not even putting it as a question. "The only question is what?"

"Tanner, I've got this. You've already done so much for me already." Brian said, his voice solemn.

"Of course. I was the one that found you in that shithole of a detention center. Who knew where you would have been." Tanner remembered the time he had first laid eyes on Brian who had only been a young teenager at the age of 16, full of rage and grief over the recent loss of his mother at the hands of his alcoholic father. The aggressive nature of the boy then had reminded Tanner of a cage mustang, having been raised on a ranch; the flying fists morphing into flailing hooves, the spun golden locks streaming into a full mane.

That day, Tanner had broken the self-appointed rule that he would not try to get emotionally evolved in children that were victims in so many cases. That day, he simply walked forward and clamped a stern hand down on the angry, confused teen, bringing him to stop with a simple, softly spoken command. The next second, his arms were full of a sobbing, broken child that had seen things that a child never should have to see. He had comforted Brian for two hours, trying to be the father figure the youngster desperately needed.

Over the course of the next few months, Tanner carefully guided the teenager from the self-destructive path he was walking onto one that would be more beneficial to him, not to mention the rest of society. Brian worked hard, honing the keen mind he had hidden for so long and collecting all of his school credits plus a couple of easy college courses to graduate by the time he was released from the detention center at the age of 18. By the time he was accepted into the police academy, he had his associate's degree in criminal justice. Brian had been proud the moment the diploma had been placed into his hand. It wasn't a bachelor's or a master's but it was something neither of his parents had ever earned in their lives. To Brian, it meant he didn't have to be like them.

"Probably in jail by now or racing the streets in Barstow in a stolen car or dead in a ditch somewhere. Believe me, you don't want to know right now otherwise you'd probably shoot me. I'll tell you later once it's all set and done." Standing up, Brian held out his hand at Tanner. "You're the one that keeps giving out the second chances even though I used up my third one and you're still giving me more."

"Everyone makes the wrong decision. You just have to learn from it and move on." Tanner took the offered hand. "Remember, Brian. Sometimes, doing the right thing isn't doing the right thing." He said in a low voice, staring hard into Brian's eyes. Brian nodded, the words echoing within him. "But just as long as there is a tomorrow, there will always be a chance to set things right. Good luck. I don't want to see your ass in a hospital or newspaper again. I'm bald enough already."

"Will do." With that, Brian walked out of Tanner's office.

* * *

"Look, I don't care what you have to do but you need to get it done. The director is breathing down my neck to get this case closed." Bilkins said into the phone. "Follow them, set up shifts if you have to. I don't care if you have to pull men from other cases. This one is high priority." He waited until the other man answered. "Good, now see it through."

A knock at the door caused Bilkins to look up to see his assistant sticking their head in. "You have a Brian O'Conner from the LAPD waiting to see you. He seems insistent to meet with you."

Eyebrows furrowing at the unexpected news, Bilkins nodded, motioning for the assistant to let him in. "I'll call you later to finish this conversation. Get the ball rolling." He ended the call just to see the younger man step in, dressed comfortably in casual wear. He remained standing, hands shoved into his pockets. "Color me surprised to see you here, O'Conner. Can you explain to me why I had to end an important call for you considering the circumstances of our last association with each other?"

"I just came here to settle old demons and put them to rest, Bilkins. Nothing more." O'Conner stated calmly.

"Exactly what demons?" Despite the question, Bilkins had an idea about what they were. During the LA operation, it was plain to see that the officer had struggled with the loyalty toward the LAPD and the growing friendship with the Toretto crew.

"I'm sure you are aware that the way the LA operation ended was not the way I wanted it to go down-" O'Conner started.

"I'm not so sure about that," Bilkins interrupted harshly. "Despite what your superiors were able to twist around in the media, I believe that your personal feelings began to affect your ability to make the right decisions, particularly your feelings toward the sister. Any real officer of the law would have known that the Torettos were the ones behind the heists."

O'Conner leaned forward, anger burning in his blue eyes. "Any real agent would have known that the evidence collected at the point in time only eliminated suspects. None of it pointed to the Torettos outright." Leaning back, O'Conner spread his hands. "But I did not come here to fight with you over the case. I did my job. I caught the suspects I could. In return, I got wounded in the line of duty."

"What did you come for?"

"I came here to offer my services as an undercover operative. In return, I would like full pardons for the entire crew."

Bilkins laughed darkly. "You just spouted all that bullshit, stating that you did not let your personal feelings hamper your decisions, yet you come here to request pardons for the criminals you were after. Do you really expect me to believe your sincerity?"

O'Conner's brilliant blue eyes looked at him head on, eyes more serious than Bilkins had ever seen before, including when they were working on the LA case. "I'm sure you've had decisions that warred with your sense of what is right and what is wrong despite the fact you know the laws. Maybe over time, that line merged with the definitions written in the sand by the laws. I did what the law asked of me, Bilkins, but that consolation is not enough to make me believe those choices I made were the right ones."

That speech stopped Bilkins in his tracks, the question legitimate. He studied the young man before him, taking in the growing stress lines in the young face, the marks of a changed man written in his body. Before the Toretto case, the young officer has seemed invincible, a titan among mortals who seemed untouchable by the violence that ran the streets of LA. Now, he had met his own mortality with the wound delivered to him by the Trans. He had read the medical reports, the final notes written by his attending physician. O'Conner was lucky to have survived.

With that knowledge, O'Conner had taken the lesson and matured more than what Bilkins had thought he was capable of. It seems that Bilkins had underestimated him. "I suspect you want full pardons for everyone including Toretto himself." Bilkins asked. At O'Conner's nod, he continued. "I hope you realize that getting a full pardon for Toretto would be near impossible, especially with the fact that he murdered another suspect in full view of the public."

"I understand."

"You can work for pardons for the other members. Bradford and Alvarez will be easier to get as they are already doing their restitution for their crimes."

"I need to procure the pardon for Leticia Ortiz and Leon Sanchez as soon as possible as well."

At O'Conner's tone, Bilkins locked eyes with the other man once more. "You have talked to them. You do know it's a crime to not report a wanted criminal to the proper authorities as well as harboring them."

"I've got sources and ears on the ground. I haven't spoken with the Toretto crew since I broke my cover." O'Conner stated readily without blinking an eye.

Bilkins wondered if he should arrest O'Conner but ultimately decided against it. "You walk a fine line, that's for sure. Based on that request, you would want to bring Santos home as soon as possible." He allowed himself to think. On the office grapevine, Bilkins had heard that he was being considered to replace another head agent on a growing major case in the South. From he was able to gather, the case had to deal with drug and money runners, a prime position for an undercover operative with the skills O'Conner had. "I can't promise anything at this point, especially on the timeline but I may have a case for you." Bilkins finally answered. He threw a pad at O'Conner. "I'll need your contact information so I can alert you the moment I have any news. What about Sgt. Tanner? Wouldn't he ask questions as to why he would be losing one of his officers for a time?"

"Sgt. Tanner isn't my supervisor anymore but I do have a few months of vacation built up so I can start with that." O'Conner answered, writing down his information. "Nice meeting with you." O'Conner handed the pad back and left.

Bilkins dropped the pass on his desk as if it was acid. He sighed heavily at the blue scrawl over the yellow notepad. "Mama was always right about sleeping with dogs. You get fleas."

* * *

"Do you really think it's a brilliant idea to gamble the success of my operation on an officer like him?" Agent Christopher Markham asked the FBI agent that had been assigned to his case, skimming through the personnel file he had been handed. "I can read between the lines of the report on the LA case. Despite what the chief of police said, he turned on the operation. You're luckily you even were able to put that suspect you had, the only suspect you caught." He threw the file on the table.

Bilkins had called the Customs agent to the LA office, as a sign to remind the other man that despite what he may think, the operation was being handled by both agencies with the FBI in the lead. Tagging along with Agent Markham was the rookie Customs agent that would be riding with O'Conner on the case.

"I'm not saying Officer O'Conner did the best work on the case but he does have the potential to be one of the best undercover officers the LAPD has." Bilkins did not say that O'Conner would have to separate his real self from the operations so that he wouldn't confuse himself on the decisions he had to make. That's why Bilkins chose this case to call in O'Conner's skills at driving. With a man like Carter Verone, he doubt that Brian would be pulled in by the lead suspect. "In the end, we can trust him."

"The LA case is riddled with mistakes. We can't afford that here. If we give him one little slip up or mistake in any document and he will slip away to Argentina." Markham jabbed his finger on the table. "All of our street informants are telling us he's moving his base of operations back to his homeland. We'll never catch this guy the moment he leaves US soil."

"I have a feeling that O'Conner won't drop the ball on this one. He feels he owes to me to make up for the LA mess."

Markham straightened. "There's something you're hiding from me, Bilkins, something about why O'Conner is joining us. I will find out."

A knock at the door ended their conversation early, Bilkins welcoming in O'Conner. Unlike the last visit, he was dressed more sharply though not formal. His movements were less stiff, no doubt due to the healing wounds of his injuries and subsequent operations to repair the damage. According the records, O'Conner had been declared fit for duty by the medical personal with no restrictions.

"Agent Bilkins." He greeted, giving a small, respectful nod.

"O'Conner, this is US Customs Agent Christopher Markham, senior agent in charge of the operation, and Agent Michael Dunn, who will be your partner for the duration of the operation. Markham, this is Officer Brian O'Conner, who is currently being loaned to us from the LAPD."

"So you're the officer that almost single handedly screwed up the LA case. How do I know that you won't screw up this case?"

"I won't. Bilkins asked me to help provide assistance that your agents can't do. I did not come here to explain his request to you."

"I told you, Chris that we need to do a new approach to Verone that he won't see coming. Officer O'Conner can and will be able to pull this off with our assistance."

Brian pointed at the man sitting at the table, silent so far during the conversation. "Are the both of you really serious in Agent Dunn being my partner? No offense, pal."

"He was the head of his class at Glynco." Markham sneered, referencing the Academy for the United States Customs and Border Protection in Georgia.

Brian raised an eyebrow. "So was I when I graduated the LAPD Academy. The man who was second after me quickly washed out from the force, couldn't handle the stress of the job. Just because they're the top of their class doesn't mean they can handle the rigors of the real duties on the streets."

"And why do you think that Agent Dunn won't be able to be your back up during the operation?" Bilkins asked before Markham could retort. The man's face was already reddening though O'Conner had only been in the room for a few minutes.

"Because he doesn't know the street lingo and probably doesn't know the finer details of the cars that we can expect on those streets. The moment we step out onto those streets, the other racers will be able to smell him and that will alert your suspect about any person who doesn't belong there. I don't know about Agent Dunn, but I for one don't want a bullet in the back or front of my skull."

"Hmm, you do have a point regarding the ins and outs of the cars." Bilkins invited O'Conner to test Agent Dunn, knowing the man would fail.

"Can you tell me the major difference between the 1969 Dodge Charger and the 1970 model?" O'Conner asked the younger man.

Agent Dunn paused his movements, obviously thinking the question through. "Um, the body was different?"

Brian rocked back on his heels, eye the older Customs agent. "The most notable difference was in the look and placement of the bumper. Do you really think I'm going to survive long with a rookie who can't tell between a Honda and an Acura?"

Markham snarled grabbing the can from Dunn and throwing it into the trashcan where it clanged to the bottom. "What are you suggesting then, that you go in solo? The case requires a two man team and frankly, I don't trust you to work this case." Markham jerked his head at Dunn to get out and wait for him outside while they finished.

"Verone will be hiring a pair of drivers who will work as a team. You'll need a partner for this operation." Bilkins explained to Brian, ignoring the other man's statement and the departure of the rookie. "It will also ensure that you'll have back up on the operation in case things go FUBAR."

"If I'm going to do this, I'm going to need someone who knows his way around cars, not to mentions someone who actually has skills behind the wheel."

"If it's another officer, I can get him temporarily assigned to us though the different jurisdictions might be a little tricky." Bilkins said as he thought over the possible laws he might have to bend to get the potential officer on board. Getting O'Conner on board a federal investigation had taken some blackmail and promises under the table to get everything signed off on.

O'Conner chewed his lip, wondering how to break it to Bilkins. "That's the thing. He's not an officer."

"Oh, really? Is he one of the crew?" Markham asked sarcastically, still angry over the fact that Dunn had failed the test.

"No, Markham. He's someone from my past and I'm damn sure he'll be willing to do this to get off his parole early and his record wiped clean."

Markham snorted. "This just seems to be getting better and better. Not only am I forced to have a dirty cop on my hands, he wants to bring in one of his friends to the party."

"If you want this operation to happen, you're going to need people who don't look like they came off the academy press and who'll need mommy holding their hand."

"What's his name?" Bilkins asked, interrupting the growing spat between the two.

"Roman Pearce. I met him while I was in juvie, got caught in a raid for stolen cars just after I graduated from the academy in LA. He's currently paroled in Barstow."

The older Customs agent turned to Bilkins. "You are seriously considering in going along with this? We can get another agent from your side or my team to fill this role in."

"Markham, we've talked about this before. Verone has caught all our other previous officers who posed as illegal street racers in operations past. Fuentes is lucky since she's his personal assistant. We need drivers with the skills to pull this off. As much as I hate to say it, O'Conner did learn a few things from Toretto that would no doubt be a great asset in him securing spots on the runners that Verone is looking for." Bilkins explained once more. He stood up. "I guess you and me will be taking trip to Barstow. Are you going to bring anything?"

O'Conner mulled the question over, going through what he needed for the operation. "Are you guys going to provide us the vehicles for the case?"

"Of course. Our mechanics have already designed and modified the vehicles that will be used for the operation. They're currently in Miami."

"Which means they have tracking devices." Blue eyes locked gazes with his own. "They need to be removed. All of them."

"It's FBI policy that any agents' or informants' car be outfitted with the tracking devices so we know their every move."

"Plus, it's a great way to get your agents killed with a man like Verone."

Already, Bilkins could feel the headache coming on. "I'm sorry, O'Conner. That's one thing that won't happen no matter how much you'll try to push it." Bilkins walked to the door, opening the door. "I can provide you with a 100 grand. However you spent it in regards to the mission can be overlooked readily enough."

O'Conner hummed his throat as he walked to the door. "What time will be leaving for Barstow?"

"Be at Terminal 1 at LAX by 8 tomorrow. We'll take a short flight to Barstow to pick up your boy."

"You know, Bilkins, you're really not that bad once you mellowed out."

"Don't thank me yet, O'Conner. This partnership between us is just beginning the operation can crash and burn and it'll be both our asses out on the street."

"At LAX tomorrow." O'Conner left, walking down the hallway without a care in the world.

* * *

When Brian had left Barstow the moment he had been released from juvenile detention, he had vowed that he would not return to his hometown. Once he left, Barstow would be relegated to a permanent place in his past. He had no intention of ever coming back.

Except, there was only one thing that could draw him back.

The place hadn't changed at all in the seven years since he had packed the meager belongings and what little remained of his mother he had in a beat up Toyota and left for the last time or so he thought. Los Angeles had an urban grittiness to it that was unique to that particular city. While one could get lost among the hustle and bustle of the city of angels, the grittiness that permeated through his hometown was more intimate, more familiar and not in a good way.

He narrowed his blue eyes against the glare of the late summer sun as the junkyard cars rumbled onto the dirt arena floor, bright white numbers painted on the sides of the sacrificial autos. Almost immediately, he zeroed out the familiar image of Rome against the other competitors, the cocky stance almost screaming out at Brian. The small speedway crowd cheered as the announcer counted down the start of the derby. As the cars rammed each other, metal crunching and engines roaring in protest, Brian took the time to study the countenance of his former friend. Despite the exuberance Rome projected as he knocked out car after car, Brian could tell it wasn't the same innocent carefree attitude Rome had before the arrest.

He knew underneath that familiar yet unfamiliar exterior, Rome carried that same burning hate toward him for seemingly abandoning him when he had been picked up in the raid, the same hate he reserved for officers of the law.

"Do you really think your friend will help you?" Bilkins asked, munching slowly on the popcorn he had bought at the only stand, speaking for the first time ever since they had gotten off the government plane.

Brian almost wanted to say yes but he bit the response, thinking over Bilkins' question in his mind. Would Rome help him? If he hadn't been a cop, there was a good chance Rome would have jumped at the chance to take the monitoring device that was locked around his ankle but Brian still carried a badge with him, was still tied to a law enforcement organization. "It could go either way." He finally answered.

"If he doesn't agree to help us, you'll have to look for a partner elsewhere." The emphasis on the last work had Brian immediately knowing that Bilkins meant he would have to look within the ranks of the FBI or Customs who could pull off the job.

"Then I better hope he agrees as I seriously doubt I'll safe with a fresh-faced rookie. Someone like Carter Verone will smell him a hundred miles away and he'll put a bullet in our heads before we say anything." Brian watched as the show ended, his eyes following Rome as he stalked across the dirt out of the arena, back ramrod straight. No, it looked like the three years since he had seen Rome hadn't lessened the anger at all. In fact, it probably had amplified it. The two LEOs left the stands, moving to intercept the ex-con.

Brian whistled loudly, the sound piercing the air. "Roman Pearce!" His former friend continued toward the shitty trailer parked near the entrance to the speedway. Whatever was going to happen needed to happen to the clear the air between them. He wasn't sure what Rome had learned while in prison but since Brian had left Barstow, he had learned a few things as well. "Yo, whatever happens next, just let it go. This is between me and him." He didn't want Rome to get in trouble for beating up an off-duty officer. The purpose was to give him a chance at a free life, not at another tour in the slammer.

Bilkins shrugged his shoulders. "I ain't in it."

Whistling again, Brian made the sound sharper. "Rome!" He barked, using his officer's voice that he had learned in the academy and hone while working the streets of LA. It apparently grated on the other man's nerves as he turned around, snarling. "Only my home boys can call me Rome, pig." Brian showed no emotion as the loogie landed near him, ignoring the challenge for the moment.

"I got a deal for you." Brian shoved his hands in his pockets as he rocked back on his heels, warily watching his former friend.

Rome threw his head back, laughing darkly. "That's rich coming from you." He stalked toward Brian, his dark eyes burning with fury. "You think you can go around, offering deals like you're something? How do I know you're not pulling my leg?"

"The FBI and Customs are running an operation that needs someone who knows how to drive. Bilkins worked with me before and pulled me into this operation, however, we need a second driver. I need someone I can trust to watch my back if shit goes to hell."

Rome bared his teeth. "And what makes you think you can trust me, that I won't rat you out?"

Brian nodded at the ankle monitoring device peeking from underneath Rome's baggy black pants. "If you help us complete the mission, they'll take the device off and clean your records. You'd be a free man. I doubt you would do that and mess up your second chance."

"Just like that?" Rome's hands tightened, the leather creaking ominously. Brian withdrew his own hands from the pockets, loosening his stance.

"Just like that."

"And what about you, Brian? Still a filthy cop?"

"I still have my badge." Brian withdrew his jacket slightly to show the silver shield of the LAPD attached to his badge.

Brian saw Rome's hand clench into a fist, his leather glove creaking in warning. He reacted, jerking his body back but it wasn't fast enough. The fist glanced his chin, knocking him off balance. He stumbled back, Rome following with dark intent in his eyes. He blocked another punch, stepping forward. Brian's hand shot out, slamming into Rome's left shoulder, tipping the bigger man over his leg. He grunted as Rome grabbed at his arm, pulling Brian down with him.

The officer reacted, rolling Rome onto his back. The two struggled, each of them, trying to gain the upper hand. Brian's head snapped back, Rome landing another blow. Dazed, Brian could not defend against Rome pulling both his legs against his chest and kicking out, his feet slamming into Brian's chest and sending him sprawling out on the dirt floor. Both of them scrambled to their feet, Brian wiping at the trickle of blood near the corner of his mouth.

Both of them kept their eyes on each other, ignoring the FBI agent as he headed off to the trailer steps to sit down. The two combatants continued to circle each other, waiting for the opening. Brian knew, however, that Rome had very little patience. A few seconds later, the wait paid off as Rome lunged, his punch swinging wide. Brian stepped back, the punch missing him by a few inches. As Rome stepped past him, Brian grabbed him, his right arm latching Rome's outstretched wrist, the other coming down on Rome's upper arm. The force and weight behind Brian's body caused the elbow between his hands to lock. Using the now locked joint, Brian manhandled his former friend to the ground. Rome grunted as Brian's knee dug into his back, grinding down on the individual vertebra. Brian twisted the captured arm behind Rome's back, locking the wrist.

"Fucking faggot." Rome gasped, turning his head to deliver the epithet at Brian. "Pig."

"Under the circumstances, that would be construed as attacking an officer. That's against the term of your release." Brian remarked, returning Rome as the man continued to struggle.

"Going to send me back, O'Conner? That seems just like you."

Brian was quiet for a moment. "No, I'm not going to send you back. That wasn't why we came." Pushing back against Rome, Brian got up and stepped away for a second, putting distance between them. "It's a second chance, Rome."

"You think this will make everything right between us?" Rome gestured between them, disgust written on his face.

"I'm only offering this once because you were my friend once. The moment I turn my back, the deal is off the table and you can return to that shit-hole trailer you're leaving in."

"Big badass cop, throwing deals out left and right." Rome turned around, heading toward the trailer where Bilkins was, finishing the last of his popcorn. Brian followed behind, keeping a distance between him and Rome.

"All done?" Bilkins asked the bedraggled officer.

Rome stopped before Bilkins, his dark gaze on the older man. "If I do this, my record will be wiped clean?"

"Clean slate, including juvenile detention, if you do this for us. Every single document will be destroyed."

"And I have to ride with this punk?"

"I'm afraid that's not negotiable. Officer O'Conner will be the lead agent on this case."

Rome was silent for a moment, thinking it over. "If I do this, I won't ever have to him again."

"Once the operation is over and the papers signed. I'm gone." Brian said, burying the residual hurt under his mask that he had cultivated during the years.

Ignoring his former friend, Rome looked at Bilkins. "I'm in."

* * *

~ _Three Weeks Later_ ~

Brian and Rome watched as the area was flooded with police officers from the Miami-Dade County Police Department and US Customs agents, securing the wrecked but still floating luxury boat to the dock. Agents were covering every inch of it to make sure no one was hiding. Enrique had been carefully removed from where Rome had smashed him against the wall with the Dodge Challenger, miraculously still alive though suffering from trauma injuries to his chest and abdomen. They had heard from the conversation around them that Roberto was currently the target of a manhunt in the glades where Rome had ejected his into. Considering they had called in the search dogs and helicopters equipped with infrared, they believed they would catch him soon.

One of the paramedics from the waiting ambulances continued to tend to Rome's injured arm, bandaging it tightly after making sure the bullet had exited and disinfecting the entry and exit wounds. From the melee of black and whites, Agent Markham approached the two, hands gripping the latches of his bulletproof vest. The paramedic carefully placed Rome's arm into a sling. "That ought to do it." She picked up her kit and walked back to her ambulance, leaving the three men alone to talk.

"So there were three bags total, huh? The three from the boat?" Markham asked, making sure everything was accounted for. Considering how much money was in those bags, Markham was a little disappointed but considering Verone had been captured in possession of the bags, he was happy that they had caught him red-handed. All across Miami, FBI and Customs along with the Miami PD were moving in on the properties owned by Verone as well as other unofficial ones that were linked to him.

"So we good, right? My record's clean?" Rome asked Markham, not even acknowledging the other man's question.

The US Customs agent looked at the two men, noting the blood caked on them and the tired expression on their faces. Over the past week, both had been witnesses to a police detective being tortured, chased by local and federal law enforcement agencies, almost executed, and had rescued one of his undercover agents while holding up their side of the deal despite the numerous attempts on their lives. "You held up your end. Your records will be cleaned. O'Conner, your terms will also be honored. I'll have the paperwork for Alvarez, Bradford, Sanchez, and Ortiz's records to be cleaned along with Pearce's."

The two of them exchanged, Brian nodding his head. Rome got up gingerly and went to the back of the Charger, carefully opening up the trunk. Markham's eyes took in the three black bags being collected and dumped at his feet. From the weight, he could tell that the money Verone was going to take with him had been easily doubled. "So, maybe there were six bags. I guess we can call it even." Rome finished.

"Agent Dunn." Markham called out, the young rookie turning from where he was inventorying what they had caught Verone with at the truck.

"Sir?"

Smiling at the two, Markham clasped hands with Pearce. "We found some more evidence." He shook hands with O'Conner, silently saying goodbye. Agent Dunn came to the three, picking up the bags and taking them quickly to the truck to be bagged and logged in, Markham following behind. They couldn't afford any mistakes with a criminal like Verone, especially not with the lawyers he would be able to buy.

Still smiling, Brian and Rome caught sight of Verone being attended by two paramedics, a couple of heavily armed Customs agents around him, geared to the teeth with body armor. Blood was running down his shoulder, his chest bare after his designer shirt was cut away to reveal the bullet wound Fuentes had put there.

"Don't drop the soap, big homey." Rome laughed, flashing his pearly whites at the older man.

Brian winced inside, still keeping his smile. Despite the jest behind it, Brian had a feeling that Rome might have learned that from personal experience and to top it, that statement wasn't one you should say to a man like Verone. _Especially if the man smiles like the way Verone was smiling now_. Brian thought as the only reaction from the captures criminal was to raise the corner of his lips in a disturbing parody of a smile to Rome who was still chuckling.

"I hope you know that when he gets out, he's gonna kill your ass." Brian said through his teeth, immediately knowing the man would buy the best defense lawyers money could buy.

Rome continued to chuckle until he realized that Brian wasn't joking. "He ain't getting out." He tried to sound confident but the words came out a little weak. Still smiling at the LAPD officer and his friend, Verone got up, his arm being bandaged and placed into a sling similar to the one Rome was wearing. Only this time, his right arm remained high due to the fact that both hands were cuffed tightly together. His blue eyes, colder and more feral than Brian's, continued to stare at them, that little smirk still present on his lips. "You think he gonna get out?"

Brian jumped off the wooden crates, still lightly smirking at Verone, knowing it would inwardly piss the man that the men who had captured him weren't dead yet. "He'll get out." _And when he does, I'll be waiting. I won't lead Mia into danger. She's counting on me to set things straight. To bring Letty home. If he ever comes to LA, I'm putting a bullet in his skull._

The smile dropped from Rome's face, worry now filling it. "No, for real. You think he getting out, though?" He asked his friend as they walked across the open space where they were met by Bilkins and Monica Fuentes.

"We took care of your decoys." Bilkins started, referring to Tej Parker and Suki Avon as well as the other racers who had been caught during the mad scramble. "They're free and clear, including all of their outstanding tickets as a thank you for covering your crazy asses. There's a sedan out on the road for you with the keys in the ignition. Try to bring it back in one piece." Bilkins asked of them, knowing that putting these two men in cars was a bad idea.

Brian laughed lightly. "Yeah, we can do that. I think we had enough fun for the day. Thanks a lot, Bilkins. You're alright." He shook hands with the FBI agent.

"You know, if you went back to school and got your Bachelor's, you could apply to Quantico."

"What's Quantico?" Rome asked, eyebrows furrowing. He didn't know any state with a city named Quantico.

But Brian was already shaking his head. "Sorry but I don't think I want to be a federal agent. It's not for me." Understanding dawned on Rome's face but he kept quiet at Brian's response. He wasn't sure how he would have reacted if Brian went from being a local pig to a federal pig.

"If you're sure. You could be one of the best agents on the government's payroll."

"I'm sure. Thanks for looking out for us, man."

"Alright." Brian's eyes fell on the wrecked ship, the end of the silver Skyline sticking out of it. "Bilkins is there any way to keep the rides. After all, unlike the Spyder and the Evo, they're not government property."

Bilkins whistled lowly at the request. "You can keep the Charger as you won that on the streets. As for the Skyline, you fixed her up on the government's pay. She also belongs to the US government."

"What if I pay for it in cash? She's now a wreck after all." The undercarriage of the Skyline was probably totaled as well as all the nitrous lines after crash landing on the upper deck of Verone's boat but it could still be salvageable and Brian had to admit, he had fallen in love with the GTR. There's was something about the sleek lines that called to him, even more so than the green Mitsubishi or the orange Supra he had previously driven.

"If you have the cash, you can buy it after it's sent to the impound lot." Bilkins mused, having a feeling that O'Conner would be able to fork up the cash for the destroyed ride. "I'll alert the officers that you'll be picking it up."

"Thanks." Bilkins nodded at the officer before leaving to oversee the final preparations.

"So you trust me now?" Monica asked, looking directly at Rome as Bilkins walked away. Brian saw the little cut on her forehead had been tended to, the small amount of blood wiped away. She was pretty, Brian had to admit but he didn't want her.

"You a'ight."

Eyebrow raised, Monica shook hands with him, unintentionally grabbing his injured arm. "Oof."

"Sorry. Nice working with you, O'Conner." She said, shaking hands with Brian.

"Same here."

Tilting her head, Monica looked at Brian. "Do you think you I'd be able to change your mind in staying in Miami a little longer?"

A memory of Mia in a mechanic's shirt popped up in Brian's mind, the oil streak on her nose clear as well as her smile. He remembered how it felt to have Mia by his side, both of them slumbering quietly in bed. To him, a man who had never really found a place to call home in not only in his head but his heart as well, the feeling of content was something he wanted to feel again, no matter how hard it would be to recover it. "No, I'm sorry. I hope to have someone waiting for me in LA. If there's a chance, I can't let it go."

A sad smile appeared on Monica's face. "She's a lucky woman, then."

Brian shook his head. "I'm the lucky one." _I just hope that I still have a chance with her_.

"I guess this is goodbye then."

"It could be a see you later."

Monica nodded. "See you." She left, turning after a few yards to look at Brian one more time before disappearing into the crowd of law enforcement.

"So how long are we staying here, brah?" Rome asked as the two of them left before another agent or officer stopped them. Brian had enough of dealings with other agencies for a day. He needed a break before heading back home to the bullshit that was waiting for him the Metro Division.

"Just long enough to clean up the mess here and talk to Tej and the rest." Brian answered, eyeing the sedan that Bilkins had talked about. Compared to the cars the FBI had given them for the case, the sedan was as boring as any car could be. Standard tires, rims, seats, dark champagne in color. The complete opposite of the cars Brian and Rome had been driving only an hour ago on the streets of Miami.

"I still can't believe you talked me out of taking some of the money from those bags. I was hungry." Rome pointed behind him.

"If the circumstances had been different, I would have been there right along with you, making sure my pockets weren't empty, however, I'm still an officer of the law."

"Really? Your lily white ass would have been hiding some of them Ben Franklins?"

"Yup, but it's not that way. As I see it, I'm heading back to LA."

"Mm, if LA is anything like Miami, I'm a have to stay out there. Keep you out of trouble, brah." Brian shot a glance at him. "You know what I'm talking about." Brian let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"So, you're going to kick it out in LA, bro? Do you really think you handle it?"

"Oh, man, I could grow to love LA. After all, you need me to watch your back." Brian's laughter faded, remembering what was waiting for him back home. He sighed reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone. Miraculously, through the crazy stunts he had pulled, the mobile was still intact.

"Hold on a sec. I got to make a phone call." Brian said. He stepped away from Rome, turning to look out on the Everglades as he called a number that he had burned into his brain for weeks. It rang a couple of times. He waited, nervously tapping a foot on the packed dirt. After what seemed like an eternity, the phone was picked up right before he was about leave a message.

"Mia, its Brian. Sorry for not keeping in contact but I've got a few things to tell you. . . ."


End file.
